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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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BV  4253  J6x  1895a 

Jowett,  Benjamin,  1817-18^1 

College  sermons 


'kf^' 


COLLEGE    SERMONS 


COLLEGE    SERMONS 


BY    THE    LATE 


BENJAMIN*^JOWETT,   M.A. 

MASTER    OF    BALLIOL   COLLEGE 


EDITED    BY   THE    VERY    REV.    THE    HON. 

W.    H.    FREMANTLE,    M.A. 

DEAN    OF    RIPON 


MACMILLAN    AND     CO. 

1895 


PREFACE 


The  first  two  Sermons  printed  in  this  volume 
belong-  to  a  different  period  from  the  rest,  and  may 
be  said  to  represent  an  '  earlier  manner.'  Mr.  Jowett 
was  at  that  time  a  young  tutor  whose  views  were 
not  fully  formed,  but  whose  fresh  and  keen  interest 
in  his  pupils  was  already  the  same  which  distin- 
guished him  to  the  end. 

It  was  at  that  time  the  custom  at  Balliol  College 
that  the  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated  only 
once  in  the  middle  of  each  term ;  and  on  the 
Saturday  evening  preceding  this  each  tutor  gathered 
his  own  pupils  into  his  room  and  delivered  to 
them  an  address  in  preparation  for  the  Sacrament. 
Mr.  Jowett 's  addresses  on  these  occasions  were  highly 
valued  by  the  more  thoughtful  of  his  pupils,  and  it 
seems  desirable  to  give  specimens  of  them. 

He  preached  comparatively  seldom  before  he 
became  Master.  He  was  Select  Preacher  before 
the   University  in    the   years   1851-2 ;    but   none   of 


vi  PREFACE 

the  Sermons  of  that  time  are  included  in  the  present 
volume.  They  belong  not  to  the  College  Sermons, 
but  to  those  deahng  with  more  general  interests. 
A  specimen  of  his  University  Sermons  will,  however, 
be  found  in  Sermon  V. 

He  declined  the  office  of  Catechetical  Lecturer 
which  then  existed  in  the  College,  as  too  technical; 
and,  since  there  were  no  sermons  in  the  College 
chapel,  he  preached  hardly  at  all  in  Oxford,  and 
only  on  rare  occasions  for  his  friends  in  London 
and  other  places.  But  in  the  year  1869  having 
been  requested  by  the  College  to  preach  to  the 
undergraduates,  he  commenced  the  series  of  Ser- 
mons from  which  most  of  those  now  published  are 
taken. 

On  becoming  Master,  in  1870,  he  made  it  a  rule 
to  preach  regularly  twice  in  the  term,  on  the  first 
and  fifth  Sunday;  and  he  continued  this  practice, 
with  but  rare  exceptions,  to  the  end.  He  also 
preached  more  frequently  in  other  places,  and,  from 
the  year  1866,  on  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Stanley, 
Dean  of  Westminster,  and  of  his  successor.  Dr. 
Bradley,  he  addressed  the  large  evening  congregation 
regularly  once  a  year  in  the  Abbey.  Many  of  his 
sermons  were  preached  both  at  Oxford  and  in 
London ;    nor   did   he   hesitate   to   repeat   the   same 


PREFACE  vii 

sermon  again  and  again  in  the  College  with  a  few 
years'  interval. 

The  Sacramental  Lectures  naturally  deal  more 
directly  with  the  spiritual  life.  In  some  of  the 
College  Sermons  prudential  advice  becomes  more 
prominent.  But  the  unswerving  faith  which  saw  in 
the  life  and  Spirit  of  Christ  the  true  representation 
of  the  nature  of  God  was  always  present.  One  of 
those  who  has  published  his  reminiscences  of  the 
Master  recalls  the  impression  made  on  him  when, 
after  half- an -hour's  reflexions  on  common  expe- 
riences, which  seemed  about  to  close  with  little  to 
raise  men  above  the  world,  the  preacher  stopped 
short,  and  closed  his  sermon  with  these  words  :  '  If 
you  ask  me  for  an  ideal,  an  example,  a  standard ; 
if  you  say,  "  What,  then,  is  the  higher  life  .^ "  I  will 
tell  you.  It  is  "  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fullness  of  Christ." ' 

His  method,  though  sometimes  varied,  is  to  hover 
for  a  time  round  the  main  subject  of  the  sermon, 
giving  some  general  exposition  of  the  text  or  of 
topics  bearing  upon  it,  and  then  to  fasten  definitely 
upon  the  special  point  which  he  desires  to  enforce, 
and  to  spend  his  whole  strength  in  illustrating  and 
enforcing  it. 

His  theory  of  preaching  was  not  to  read  largely, 


viii  PREFACE 

or  to  go  through  a  long  elaboration  of  thought 
for  the  special  occasion,  but  to  take  some  subject 
which  he  had  already  worked  out  both  in  thought 
and  in  experience,  and  to  write  it  as  the  direct 
product  of  his  mind  and  heart.  But  he  was  ex- 
tremely careful,  even  fastidious,  in  the  expression 
of  his  thoughts ;  and  in  this,  as  in  every  part  of 
his  work,  he  gave  himself  incredible  pains,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  alterations,  erasures,  and  additions 
in  the  manuscript.  Even  the  revising  of  an  old 
sermon  cost  him  much.  His  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  care  and  trouble  in  such  matters  made  him 
unwilling  to  publish ;  and  when,  in  the  last  two 
years  of  his  life,  in  response  to  the  request  of  his 
old  pupils  in  1892  \  he  set  to  work  to  go  over 
his  sermons  for  pubHcation,  he  was  often  driven 
to  rewrite  with  great  difficulty.  In  one  case  he 
makes  the  following  note :  '  This  is  the  eighth  time 
I  have  tried  to  rewrite  this  sermon  and  have  failed.' 

The   earlier   sermons   are  written   in    a  clear  and 
flowing   hand,   on    broad   quarto    sheets,   while   the/ 
later   sermons   are    in    a    more    crabbed   hand,    ani 
written  on  sheets  of  note  paper  held  loosely  together 
by  a  string,  perhaps  as  more  portable. 

It  is  not   always   easy  to  decipher   the   meaning. 

'  See  this  Address,  and  the  Master's  reply,  at  pp.  x,  xi. 


PREFACE  ix 

In  a  very  few  cases,  where  the  sentences  are  evi- 
dently unfinished,  it  has  been  necessary  to  add  one 
or  two  words ;  but  mere  roughness  of  expression 
it  has  not  been  attempted  to  remove. 

The  language  is  as  direct  and  simple  as  possible. 
Where  a  plain,  short  word  will  serve  to  express  his 
thought  it  is  always  used.  His  only  rhetoric  lies 
in  taking  the  shortest  way  possible  to  reach  the 
understanding  and  the  heart.  Sometimes  by  argu- 
ment, sometimes  by  forcible  statements,  by  epigram, 
by  homely  or  humorous  touches,  sometimes  by 
a  parable,  he  wins  his  way. 

His  delivery  in  early  days  was  very  easy  and 
fluent :  in  the  later  years  there  was  more  sense  of 
effort.  But  the  peculiar  charm  or  force  was  always 
the  same.  It  came  from  the  character  and  the 
reputation  which  was  at  the  back  of  the  words; 
from  the  consciousness  that  each  sentence  expressed 
a  genuine  and  original  conviction ;  that  he  had 
dared  and  suffered  for  the  right  to  speak  out  his 
unfettered  opinion ;  and  that  each  year  made  the 
success  of  his  methods  of  training  and  influencing 
character  more  apparent.  Young  and  old  alike 
felt  that  he  had  taken  pains  to  understand  them 
and  the  world  in  which  they  moved,  and  had 
succeeded. 


X  REQUEST  EOR  PUBLICATION 

It  has  been  thought  best  in  this  volume  to  include 
only  sermons  preached  in  the  College.  There  are 
many  which  record  the  biography  of  eminent  men, 
whether  of  the  past  or  the  present  generation,  and 
which  deal  with  theological  or  more  general  ques- 
tions. Specimens  of  each  of  these  classes  are  given 
in  the  present  volume ;  but  the  mass  of  them  are 
reserved  for  a  future  occasion.  The  volume  closes 
with  the  Message  addressed  to  the  College  in 
1 89 1,  when  he  was  lying  between  life  and  death. 


The  following  is  the  text  of  the  address  alluded 
to  on  p.  viii,  and  the  Master's  reply : — 

To  the  Rev,  The  Master  of  Balliol. 

February^  1892. 

Dear  Master, 

Many  of  your  old  pupils  at  Balliol  College  have 
long  felt  a  desire  to  possess  a  permanent  record  of 
the  religious  teaching  which  we  have  heard  from  you 
in  the  College  Chapel  and  elsewhere,  and  we  know 
that  the  desire  is  shared  by  many  others  whose  names 
do  not  appear  here.  May  we  express  to  you  our 
conviction  that  a  collection  of  your  Sermons  would 


REQUEST  FOR  PUBLICATION  xi 

be  welcomed  by  very  many  old  friends  and  pupils, 
whose  strong-  wishes  we  think  will  not  be  altogether 
indifferent  to  you.  Some  of  the  words  which  we 
have  heard  from  you  in  Balliol  Chapel,  in  the 
University  Church,  and  in  Westminster  Abbey,  will 
always  stand  out  in  our  memory,  and  we  believe 
that  they  would  bring  to  many  besides  ourselves  the 
same  guidance  and  encouragement  that  your  own 
pupils  have  drawn  from  them.  It  is  for  these  reasons 
that  we  venture  to  hope  that  you  will  permit  us  to 
arrange,  without  trouble  or  expense  to  yourself,  for 
a  printed  volume  of  your  sermons,  for  private  or 
public  circulation  as  you  may  indicate.  We  find  it 
difficult  to  say  fitly  all  that  we  feel  on  the  matter,  but 
whether  you  are  able  to  comply  with  our  wishes  or 
not,  you  will  allow  us  to  take  this  opportunity  of 
expressing  to  you  our  deep  gratitude  for  all  that  we 
owe  to  your  teaching. 


[Signed  by  io8  Graduate  Members  of  Balliol.] 


Balliol  College,  Oxford, 
March  2,  1892. 

Dear  Mr.  Cell, 

I  am  greatly  honoured  by  the  request  of  my 
old  pupils,  which  you  have  been  good  enough  to 
convey  to  me,  that  I  should  publish  some  of  my 
sermons.      I   am    sorry   that   I   cannot,  at    present, 


xii  THE  MASTER'S  PROMISE 

comply  with  this  wish.  The  reason  is,  that  I  think 
them  ill-suited  for  publication.  There  is  a  difference 
between  a  sermon  which  is  approved  by  a  partial 
audience,  under  the  impression  of  the  moment,  and 
one  which  can  stand  the  test  of  being  carefully  read 
over  at  leisure.  These  sermons  were  hastily  written, 
owing-  to  the  pressure  of  other  work,  and  perhaps 
also  from  a  bad  habit  of  procrastination  in  the  writer. 
They  are  very  rough  and  unconnected ;  and  most  of 
them,  being  written  a  long  time  since,  would  appear 
to  be  out  of  date.  What  may  have  been  suitable  ten 
or  twenty  years  ago,  when  addressed  to  a  small 
audience,  would  not  be  appropriate  at  the  present 
time.  The  truths  of  Theology  are  supposed  to  be 
eternal,  but  the  fashions  of  Theological  opinion 
change  from  year  to  year.  There  is  a  more  im- 
portant reason.  '  The  highest  truths,'  as  Plato  says, 
'  demand  of  us  the  greatest  accuracy ' ;  and  I  should 
not  feel  justified  in  offering  my  thoughts  on  such 
subjects  to  the  world  at  large,  unless  I  had  striven 
to  give  them  the  best  form  in  which  I  was  capable 
of  finding  expression  for  them. 

But  I  still  hope  that  within  a  reasonable  time,  if 
health  and  life  are  continued  to  me,  I  may  be  able  to 
publish  one  or  two  volumes  of  Sermons  and  Essays 
on  subjects  which  may  perhaps  have  an  interest  to 
my  former  pupils.  My  sense  of  their  great  affection 
for  me  is  always  accompanied  by  the  feeling  of  how 
little  I  have  ever  been  able  to  do  for  them.  I  should 
wish,  above  all  things,  to  dedicate  the  few  remaining 


TO  PUBLISH  SERMONS  xiii 

years  of  my  life  to  their  service.  I  shall  consider 
myself  bound  by  the  pledge  which  I  have  given,  and 
shall  be  greatly  encouraged  in  the  work,  which 
I  undertake  at  their  request,  by  the  knowledge  that 
it  will  be  kindly  received  by  them. 

Believe  me, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

B.  JOWETT. 

p.  Lyttelton  Gell,  Esq. 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 


SERMON  PAGE 

I.    Eccles.  xii.  I. 

Youth  and  religion      .        .        (about  1850)  i 

11.     Mark  ix.  24. 

Difficulties  of  faith  and  their  solution 

(1852  or  1853)         II 

III.     Ps.  cxxii.  3. 

An  introduction  to  Oxford  .        {Oct.,  1885)         26 

IV.     Ps.  cxxvii.  I. 

The  building  up  of  the  College     {Oct.,  1870)         41 

V.    Luke  xviii.  8. 

The  prospects  of  Christianity 

[Nov.  26,  1 871)         59 
VI.     Exod.  xiv.  13. 

Grounds  of  hopefulness  .         {Nov.  10.  1878)         80 

VII.    JohnVx.dz- 

The  slow  but  sure  working  of  the  Christian 

spirit         .        .        .        {May  26,  1878)       102 

VIII.    Eccles.  xi.  9,  10. 

The  joys  and  aspirations  of  youth 

{Feb.  5,  1882)       127 

IX.    Roiti.  xii.  15,  16. 

Sympathy       ....      {Jan.,  1879)       148 

X.     Rom.  xiii.  8. 

The  husbanding  and  use  of  money 

{Oct,  14,  1877)       168 


xvi  CONTENTS 

SERMON  PAGE 

XI.    Eccles.  xii.  12,  13. 

Study 0;z.,  1885)       183 

XII.     Luke  iv.  4. 

Conversation.        .•      .       (^/r/ / 20,  1 879)       202 

XIII.  I  Cor.  X.  31. 

Eating  and  drinking      .      {^April  19,  1885)       225 

XIV.  Eccles.  ix.  11,  Matt.  xx.  16. 

Success  and  failure        .         {Oct.  12,  1879)      244 

XV.     Heb.  xi.  4. 

In  Memoriam — Lewis  Nettleship 

{Oct.  16,  1892)       264 
XVI.    Luke\v.\Z. 

Going  to  church  ....         (1875)       "^11 

XVII.     1  John  iii.  20. 

God's  judgement  of  us  and  our  own 

(about  1868)       295 
XVIII.    Acts  X.  38. 

The  life  of  Jesus  Christ      .         {Oct.,  1888)       309 

XIX.    John  xix.  30. 

The  completion  of  a  life's  work 

{May  14,  1882)       326 

XX.     Message  to  the  College,  in  illness 

{Oct.  18,  1891)      347 


COLLEGE    SERMONS 


I 


1  REMEMBER    NOW   THY   CREATOR   IN    THE   DAYS 

OF   THY   YOUTH. 

EccLES.  xii.  I. 

Every  serious  person  must  feel  a  strange  contrast 
between  the  gaiety  and  lightheartedness  of  youth  and 
the  opportunities  and  responsibilities  of  this  (however 
paradoxical  it  may  sound)  the  most  solemn  period  of 
our  lives  ;  the  seedtime  and  springtime  of  all  the  rest, 
in  which  the  future  is  almost  irrevocably  settled,  in 
which,  if  we  were  wise  and  would  understand  this,  it 
might  be  settled  for  our  eternal  good.  Youth  has  a 
great  secret  which  is  never  known  until  it  is  too  late 
to  use,  a  treasure  which  is  ever  growing  old,  as  being 
laid  up  in  earthen  vessels  and  crumbling  into  the 
earth  from  whence  it  came.  The  heart  of  young 
men,  one  would  have  thought,  should  leap  within 
them  at  the  feeling  that  the  future  is  still  theirs,  that 
whatever  they  do  day  by  day  is  not  a  toilsome  service 
to  receive  its  penny  a  day,  but  shall  bring  forth  fruit 

^  An  early  address  in  preparation  for  the  Sacrament, 
probably  about  1850. 

■  'i  B  % 


COLLEGE  SERMONS 


[1. 


abundantly,  turning  their  life  from  a  waste  into  a 
fairly  cultivated  field  on  which  the  sun  shines  and 
the  rains  descend,  and  it  brings  forth  an  hundred- 
fold, for  it  was  sown  in  due  season. 

Perhaps  if  we  were  able  to  carry  about  with  us 
the  consciousness  of  all  this,  to  think  day  by  day  of 
the  awful  responsibilities  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
stand,  youth  itself  might  wither  and  cease  to  be  what 
it  is,  and  fade  away  oppressed  by  the  realities  of  life. 
We  cannot  say  how  this  might  be,  but  it  is  no  reason 
against  turning  our  minds  to  these  things.  It  is  not 
possible  that  in  youth  we  can  have  the  experience  or 
seriousness  of  advancing  life.  In  youth  and  age  we 
seem  destined  to  a  different  sort  of  probation :  in 
the  first  the  web  of  our  existence  is  not  yet  woven ; 
we  can  correct  our  faults  and  unravel  the  tissue, 
but  we  want  experience,  not  exactly  of  what  is  our 
duty,  but  of  how  to  do  our  duty,  how  to  form  that 
character  which  is  still  in  our  own  power :  in  the 
second  we  know  our  duty,  but  can  no  longer  do  it 
equally.  Increasing  knowledge  and  experience  cast 
a  sorrowful  light  on  former  errors,  but  scarcely  give 
us  the  hope  of  amending. 

The  great  poet  has  drawn  a  picture  of  the  several 
ages  of  man.  Let  us  endeavour,  as  far  as  we  can,  to 
trace  our  future  course,  to  imagine  to  ourselves  what 
life  will  be — its  various  stages,  its  half-way  houses  at 
which  we  pause  and  begin  the  journey  anew — not 
as  a  matter  of  curious  speculation,  but  to  see  if  by 


I.]  LOOKING  FORWARD  3 

looking  forward  into  the  future  we  can  gain  any 
knowledge  of  what  it  is  likely  to  be  to  ourselves  ; 
let  us  listen  to  the  accounts  of  travellers  who  have 
gone  before,  that  that  new  country  into  which  we  are 
all  passing  may  not  be  an  unexplored  land,  that  we 
may  not  desire  to  return,  which  is  impossible,  to  pro- 
vide our  journey  better,  but  go  on  to  the  end  in  hope 
and  peace. 

Of  the  future  we  hardly  know  anything  else,  but 
that  it  will  be  unlike  the  present.  We  ourselves 
shall  change  with  it;  if  any  one  here  is  living  half 
a  century  hence  it  will  be  in  a  changed  world. 
How  changed  that  inner  world  of  thoughts  and 
feelings,  when  at  the  best  resignation  will  have 
taken  the  place  of  life  and  hope,  and  the  scene  in 
which  he  lives  be  folding  up  before  him  like  a 
vesture,  and  whether  in  hope  or  faith  or  despair 
he  will  himself  begin  to  feel  that  he  has  nothing 
more  to  do  with  these  things.  And  how  all  his 
family  relations  may  have  changed,  I  need  hardly 
mention,  and  how  the  course  of  the  great  world 
itself,  with  its  struggles  for  empire,  and  prejudices 
and  passions  may  have  changed,  in  which  each  one 
here  present  is  as  nothing  and  insignificant,  I  may 
say,  except  in  the  sight  of  God  only.  Of  w^hat 
we  ourselves  shall  be  fifty  years  hence  we  can 
scarcely  form  a  more  distinct  idea  than  of  what 
another  will  be,  so  dimly  can  we  see  through  the 
clouds  which  cover  us, 

B  2 


4  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [i. 

We  know  or  may  know  what  we  are,  but  it 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be.  Let  us 
think  of  another  period  of  life  much  nearer  to  us, 
of  which  most  of  us  have  thought  and  schemed,  say 
ten  years  hence,  when  nearly  all  of  us  will  have 
left  this  place  and  be  settled  in  our  various  callings 
and  spheres.  It  may  be,  and  indeed  is,  according 
to  merely  human  probability,  very  unlikely  that 
all  those  whom  we  have  known  here,  all  those  who 
will  be  present  to-morrow  morning  at  the  Lord's 
table,  will  then  be  living.  Who  will  be  called  away 
we  cannot  tell.  The  last  are  first  and  the  first 
last  here  as  in  so  many  other  dispensations  of  God's 
providence.  One  of  the  most  interesting  questions 
we  can  ask  about  this  time  of  which  I  am  speaking, 
if  we  shall  be  then  alive,  is  how  we  shall  look  back 
upon  the  present.  A  great  change  will  certainly 
have  come  over  us  by  that  time.  If  any  of  us 
have  been  careless,  or  thoughtless,  or  immoral  here, 
it  is  likely  enough  that  we  shall  be  sobered  by 
increasing  years,  that  we  shall  no  longer  care  for 
the  follies  of  our  youth,  and  to  outward  appearance 
shall  become  better  in  the  natural  course  of  things. 
And  yet  it  is  great  doubt  whether  we  shall  be 
really  better.  No  one  can  pretend  to  cast  up  his 
account  with  God,  and  say  how  much  in  his  life 
and  conduct  is  the  result  of  circumstances,  how  much 
was  the  sincere  working  of  an  earnest  will  and  peni- 
tent heart :  we  had  better  leave  these  sort  of  calcu- 


1.]  SINS   OF   YOUTH  AND   OF  AGE  5 

lations.  But  common  sense  teaches  us  that  we  cannot 
set  much  by  a  change  which  is  produced  by  our 
altered  condition  only,  by  the  flow  of  spirits  ceasing, 
by  our  health  failing,  or  anything  of  this  sort.  And 
there  is  another  and  more  painful  side  to  the  picture. 
Any  one  w^ho  observes  himself  will  probably  find 
many  respects  in  which  sin  gains  upon  him :  the 
sins  of  middle  age  take  the  place  gradually  of  the 
sins  of  youth.  We  must  remember  that  increased 
knowledge  of  the  world  is,  more  than  any  other  kind 
of  knowledge,  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  that 
as  we  know  men  better  we  get  to  care  more  for  the 
opinions  of  men  ;  as  we  become  sensible  of  the  real 
importance  of  money  and  the  outward  advantages  of 
life,  we  become  more  prudent  and  careful  and  selfish, 
until  the  frankness  and  generosity  of  youth  is  lost. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  is  necessarily  the  case — 
only  as  years  grow  upon  us  we  must  be  careful  and 
guard  against  this ;  there  is  no  knowing  how^  early 
these,  the  sins  of  middle  age,  may  creep  over  us,  and 
narrow  our  hearts  and  intellects,  while  the  practice 
and  advice  of  all  the  world  tends  to  drag  us  down 
to  its  level.  Some  of  us  may  perhaps  be  thinking 
of  how  we  can  order  our  lives  to  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  good  of  our  fellow -creatures ;  our  purpose 
may  be  ill-weighed,  our  abilities  insufficient ;  we  may 
not  know  what  a  great  thing  it  is  to  sell  all  and  follow 
Christ.  But  better  a  thousand  times  the  romantic 
dream  of  such  a  purpose,  than  the  thousand  schemes 


6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [i. 

of  worldly  interest  which  crowd  upon  men  in  after 
years,  Avhen  life  has  become  practical,  and  they  are 
eaten  up  with  selfish  care.  He  who  said  'sell  all 
that  thou  hast,'  still  speaks  to  us  from  heaven  ;  He 
who  took  a  little  child  and  set  him  in  the  midst  to 
show  men  the  Avay  to  heaven,  will  acknowledge  these 
efforts  to  serve  Him,  inconsistent  and  wayAvard  though 
they  be. 

To  come  back  to  the  question  of  which  I  spoke 
before,  let  us  ask  how  we  shall  look  back  upon  the 
time  spent  here.  Shall  we  feel  that  here  w^ere  laid 
the  foundations  upon  which  we  built  in  after  life  ? 
our  three  years  here,  were  they  usefully  spent  or 
not  ?  Did  they  give  us  those  fixed  and  regular  modes 
of  thinking  and  acting,  without  w^hich  life  is  dissipated 
and  worthless  ?  Shall  we  remember  with  pleasure  that 
there  were  many  who  helped  us  to  do  rightly,  that 
such  an  one  perhaps  gave  us  a  sense  of  duty  and 
religion  w^hich  we  never  had  before,  that  we  in  our 
turn  did  what  in  us  lay,  by  example  and  kindness,  to 
do  good  to  others  ?  or  shall  we  have  no  recollection 
save  of  its  follies  and  vanities,  of  useless  expenses, 
weakness  in  yielding  to  the  opinion  of  others,  of 
a  love  of  the  rank  or  style  in  which  others  lived,  of 
vanity  in  all  its  forms,  and  many  other  things  as  well, 
which  it  is  impossible  in  after  years  we  can  think  of 
without  some  humiliation }  And  shall  we  be  able  to 
perceive  that  our  life  since  then  has  been  growing 
in  the  right  way — that  there  it  might  have  been  re- 


I.]  LIFE  LOOKED  BACK  UPON  7 

marked  of  us  that  we  had  something  of  character, 
that  is  to  say,  an  independent  way  of  thinking  and 
speaking  and  acting,  which  was  our  own  and  no  one's 
else,  and  that  this  by  the  grace  of  God  has  been 
ripening  into  the  fullness  of  the  stature  of  Christ? 
Or,  if  we  are  able  for  a  moment  to  reflect  upon  our- 
selves, shall  we  perceive  that  we  never  had  any  char- 
acter, but  were  entirely  given  up  to  the  opinions  and 
ways  of  others,  and  that  this  fatal  curse  has  followed 
us  through  life  and  been  the  source  of  all  our  evils  ? 

The  loss  of  the  opportunities  which  this  place 
affords  is  so  trite  a  theme  that  I  will  not  say  much 
about  it.  Let  us  throw  aside  University  distinctions, 
the  prospects  which  this  place  opens  to  some  of  us, 
as  a  thing  indifferent.  Let  me  ask  you  only,  if  you 
ever  come  hereafter  to  think  seriously  about  life,  what 
it  will  be  to  feel  that  you  have  neither  the  knowledge 
nor  the  means  of  acquiring  it  necessary  for  your 
place  and  station,  that  you  are  ministers  perhaps  of 
the  gospel  and  feel  impatient  of  that  degree  of  appli- 
cation which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  understand  the 
word  of  God,  that  all  you  can  hope  to  be  to  those 
under  your  care  is  the  kind  neighbour  and  friend,  but 
hardly  the  teacher,  if  you  have  never  learnt  your- 
self. To  understand  thoroughly  any  of  the  more 
difficult  parts  of  Scripture  requires  far  more  know- 
ledge and  ability  than  to  unlock  the  treasures  of 
ancient  philosophy  or  solve  the  problems  of  nature. 
It  is  not  the  study  of  a  day  or  of  a  year,  but  is  and 


8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [i. 

ought  to  be  to  every  one,  especially  to  the  clergy- 
man, the  study  of  our  whole  life.  But  how  can  those 
of  us  who  have  never  learnt  to  study  at  all,  learn  to 
study  Scripture,  who  have  never  gained  even  the 
ordinary  power  of  fixing  the  attention,  who  have 
never  known  what  it  was  to  labour  day  after  day  at 
the  same  subject.  To  such  the  study  of  Scripture 
becomes  helpless  and  hopeless ;  if  they  are  rehglous 
men  they  read  It  again  and  again,  but  only  find  there 
what  they  believed  before.  Here  Is  the  word  of  life 
— we  call  it  so  and  think  it  so — and  yet  how  strange 
that  we  never  cared  to  acquire  the  power  of  under- 
standing it,  of  so  methodizing  and  arranging  our 
thoughts  that  we  may  have  the  power  of  explaining 
it  to  others.  There  Is  a  way  of  speaking  by  which 
the  importance  of  these  things  may  be  frittered  away 
and  made  to  appear  trifling.  'What  is  such  an  one 
the  better  for  much  knowledge  ? '  or  '  Men  are  pretty 
much  like  one  another,'  are  forms  by  which  all  these 
things  are  depreciated,  and  enthusiasm  is  repressed, 
and  virtue  and  learning  thrown  into  the  shade.  But 
enthusiasm  is  natural  to  us  in  youth ;  to  bring  down 
the  cares  of  life  to  what  we  shall  eat,  and  what  we 
shall  drink,  and  what  we  shall  put  on,  or,  wb^t  is  the 
same  thing,  to  worldly  honours  and  riches  and  enjoy- 
ments, is  strange  and  distasteful  to  any  one  not  yet 
hardened  by  the  world.  Let  us  feel  assured  and 
strengthen  the  conviction  in  ourselves  and  others  that 
these  our   first  instincts  about  things  are   the  right 


^•] 


ADVANTAGES   OF   YOUTH 


ones.  Let  us  hope  that  something  of  that  blessing 
which  Christ  promised  to  Httle  children  still  lingers 
about  us,  if  we  have  kept  ourselves  unspotted  by  the 
w^orld. 

Remember  now  thy  Creator.  Why  especially  in 
the  days  of  youth  ?  Because  then  we  have  the  power 
to  do  it ;  our  knowledge  of  God  afterwards  is  ever 
tending  to  be  of  a  different  kind — a  knowledge  with- 
out love — in  which  our  reason  seems  to  go  beyond 
our  feelings,  w^hich  does  not  interweave  itself  in  our 
nature,  and  is  certainly  not,  to  the  same  degree, 
capable  of  moulding  us  to  His  w^ill.  Which  of  us  in 
after-life  by  taking  thought  can  add  one  cubit  to  his 
stature }  One  would  scarcely  venture  to  say  so  much 
as  this  of  our  moral  growth,  and  yet  it  is  true  also 
here  that  we  cannot  invert  the  natural  order  of  things. 
There  is  a  time  to  serve  God  as  a  little  child,  and 
a  time  to  serve  Him  with  the  understanding  also  ; 
and  a  time  to  repent,  and  a  time  in  w^hich  repentance 
has  become  very  difficult,  and  a  time  in  which  it  has 
become  almost  impossible.  And  now  is  the  time  to 
repent  w^th  us ;  if  it  would  please  Him  to  touch  us 
with  His  Holy  Spirit,  we  are,  as  it  has  been  said  of 
St.  Paul,  fusile  under  His  hand,  all  our  gifts  and 
faculties,  our  outward  means,  might  be  brought  into 
obedience,  into  one  harmonious  service  to  His  will. 
In  a  few^  years  this  will  not,  cannot  be  so.  We  shall 
no  more  be  able  to  make  a  free  offering  of  our  hearts 
to  Him.    We  shall  bring  Him  the  waste  of  our  power, 


lo  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

the  wreck  of  our  lives.  The  world  will  have  caught 
us  in  its  toils ;  those  natural  gifts  which  seem  in 
themselves  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
will  have  passed  away  and  been  lost  to  us ;  the 
goods  of  this  life  will  place  themselves  between  us 
and  heaven.  If  we  ever  looked  upwards  with  any 
earnest  thought  or  wish,  if  we  ever  remember  in 
past  times  to  have  felt  assured  of  a  blessedness  on 
those  who  believed,  let  us  hold  fast  this  thought,  let 
us  recall  this  image,  because  the  time  of  promise  is 
short  and  the  evil  days  will  soon  come. 


II 


^  LORD,    I  BELIEVE;  HELP    THOU  MINE    UNBELIEF. 

Mark  ix.  24. 

A  CERTAIN  man  had  a  son,  who  is  described  in 
the  language  of  Scripture  as  having  a  dumb  spirit, 
which  at  times  made  him  fierce  and  violent,  and,  as 
we  should  say,  threw  him  into  con\'xilsions  and 
grievously  tormented  him.  Whether  the  power  ex- 
ercised on  him  was  one  altogether  different  from  what 
we  see  around  us  at  the  present  day,  or  whether  it 
was  the  same  power  in  a  different  country  and  an- 
other state  of  society  (where  too  the  opinions  of  men 
were  so  different),  manifesting  itself  in  a  different  way, 
is  a  question  on  which  we  need  not  now  enter.  It 
was  a  sad  sight  to  see  the  poor  young  man,  bereft 
of  speech  and  of  reason,  lying  on  the  ground  and 
subject  as  it  were  to  supernatural  torture.  It  was 
a  sad  calamity  to  the  family  to  which  he  belonged, 
to  whom  he  was  bound  by  the  ties  of  natural  affec- 
tion— a  calamity  than  which,  it  may  be  truly  said, 
there  could  hardly  be  a  greater  either  now  or  then. 
His  father  brought  him  to  Christ  to  beseech  Him  to 

^  An  address  before  Communion,  given  in  1852  or  1853. 


12  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [n. 

heal  him.  Many  long  years  he  had  been  tried  by 
the  affliction  of  his  son.  He  was  told  that  if  he  could 
believe  all  things  were  possible  to  him  that  believeth. 
And  the  answer  that  he  made  was,  '  Lord,  I  believe ; 
help  Thou  mine  unbelief :  knowing  little,  having 
hardly  any  conception  of  whom  he  was  to  believe 
on.  He  is  described  in  the  Gospel  almost  as  ex- 
torting from  Christ  his  request  by  the  vehemence 
of  his  passion,  in  a  manner  that  reminds  us  of 
the  parable  in  which  God  is  compared  to  an  unjust 
judge  who,  if  we  ask  often  enough  and  loud  enough 
and  vehemently  enough,  will  hear  and  answer  our 
requests. 

'  Lord,  I  believe ;  help  Thou  mine  unbehef,'  is  a 
prayer  that  we  have  occasion  to  use  very  often, 
perhaps  oftener  than  the  first  disciples.  For  'since 
the  fathers  have  fallen  asleep  and  all  things  remain 
as  they  were  from  the  beginning,'  and  the  course  of 
the  world  has  returned  to  what  it  was,  and  business 
occupies  us  or  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  engrosses 
us,  and  life  is  a  sort  of  routine,  we  are  in  more 
danger  of  forgetting  those  truths  which  quickened 
faith  at  first  and  made  all  earthly  things  trivial  and 
unimportant,  and  worked  a  revolution  in  the  hearts 
of  men  and  undermined  the  world  itself  Lord, 
I  believe  still ;  but  the  objects  of  behef  are  afar  off, 
separated  from  us  by  the  distance  of  eighteen  hun- 
dred years,  and  the  candle  in  the  Lord's  house  is 
waxing  dim,  and  the  way  into  the  most  holy  place 


ir.]  FAITH  AMID   DIFFICULTIES  13 

not  yet  made  manifest.  Lord,  I  believe  still,  though 
no  wonders  are  wrought  before  mine  eyes,  though 
men  are  no  longer  converted  by  thousands  as  at  the 
preaching  of  Paul,  though  the  evil  of  the  human 
heart  and  the  frailty  of  the  human  intellect  has  in- 
crusted  itself  on  the  Gospel.  Lord,  I  believe  still, 
though  science  seems  to  close  me  in  on  every  side 
and  forbids  me  to  pierce  that  veil  of  flesh  with  which 
I  am  encompassed,  or  to  draw  aside  the  curtain  of  the 
natural  world  that  conceals  from  me  the  eye  of  the 
Almighty.  Lord,  I  believe  still,  though  in  this  world 
there  be  faint  vestiges  of  Thy  presence,  in  the  dwell- 
ings of  business  or  fashion,  amid  the  haunts  of  misery 
and  ignorance,  where  no  light  of  Thy  truth  ever 
comes,  no  Christian  love  ever  warms  or  cheers  the 
hearts  of  men.  Lord,  I  believe,  though  the  country 
in  which  I  live  seems  at  times  to  wear  so  little  the 
aspect  of  a  Christian  land,  though  the  persons  among 
whom  I  live  fall  so  far  short  of  their  profession ; 
yea,  and  my  own  self  also  can  give  no  rational 
account  to  myself  why  I  seem  to  believe  and  yet 
allow  belief  to  have  so  little  influence  on  my  heart 
and  conduct. 

Such  are  some  of  the  diflSculties  which  from  with- 
out and  within  us  seem  to  assail  our  belief  in  reHgion. 
Many  of  these  are  what  may  be  termed  the  real 
difficulties  of  religion,  which  w411  never  be  solved  on 
this  side  of  the  grave,  but  are  a  part  of  the  mystery 
in  which   it  has  pleased  God  to  involve  human  life. 


14  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [n. 

But  there  are  other  difficulties  which  may  be  termed 
the  unreal  difficulties  of  religion,  which  hardly  need 
a  solution.  Our  faith  is  stronger  at  one  time  or 
another — we  are  elated  or  depressed  by  sickness 
and  disappointment  or  the  reverse.  Sometimes,  in 
a  manner  we  cannot  account  for  from  our  natural 
temperament  merely,  we  have  a  clearer  view  of  the 
truths  of  revelation  than  at  others.  And  it  is  a  great 
matter  to  place  our  faith  above  these  doubts  or  these 
accidents,  to  stand  upon  a  rock  which  neither  the 
winds  of  opinion  nor  the  waves  of  human  life  and 
action  can  overturn,  to  be  so  knit  into  and  made  one 
with  that  rock  that  while  it  stands  we  stand  and  can 
be  no  more  separated  than  the  rock  itself  torn  from 
its  eternal  base.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  that 
rock  is  Christ.  But  without  further  dwelling  on  this 
I  purpose  to  consider  in  what  remains  of  this 
sermon  (i)  what  are  the  most  frequent  causes  of 
unbehef,  and  (2)  what  are  the  remedies  which  nature 
or  grace  points  out  for  the  cure  of  a  soul  thus  sadly 
diseased. 

(i)  Unbelief  may  be  divided  generally  into  unbelief 
of  two  kinds,  unbelief  of  the  head  and  unbelief  of  the 
heart.  There  are  some  persons  who  have  doubts 
respecting  facts  recorded  in  Scripture,  or  are  unable 
to  realize  to  themselves  a  future  life,  or  fail  to  see 
the  mark  of  divine  authority  in  the  person  of  Christ 
our  Saviour.  Sometimes  they  have  a  definite  form  of 
belief  or  doctrine  different  from  the  truth  which  we 


II.]  UNBELIEF  OF  THE  HEAD  15 

have  been  taught,  sometimes  they  go  from  one  system 
to  another  seeking  rest  and  finding  none.  These  last 
are  commonly  called  sceptics.  Do  not  let  us  imagine 
that  there  is  a  yawning  gulf  or  abyss  of  unbelief  ready 
to  open  upon  us  in  these  latter  days.  That  is  a  way 
in  which  people  alarm  and  excite  themselves,  just  as 
other  people  terrify  their  imaginations  by  applying 
the  prophecies  to  the  times  in  which  they  live  and 
the  coming  struggle  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
There  are  not  many  such  persons,  but  yet  there  are 
such :  if  we  ever  cross  them  in  the  path  of  life  we 
shall  be  surprised  to  find  them  leading  in  many  cases 
correct  and  moral  lives.  And  the  question  we  then 
have  to  consider  is,  how  we  shall  meet  the  doubts 
which  they  fling  in  our  way  or  in  that  of  others  and 
the  attempts  they  make  to  undermine  our  faith  in  the 
truth  of  Christ.  No  man  will  lightly  rush  into  such 
a  controversy  as  into  an  argument  about  politics  for 
the  sake  of  victory  or  display :  the  interests  concerned 
are  too  weighty  for  that;  nor  will  he  meet  his  oppo-' 
nent  with  jests  and  sneers  and  uncharitable  speeches  : 
we  cannot  argue  a  man  into  a  religion  of  love  with 
words  of  party  spirit  or  hatred.  The  chief  argimient 
must  be  a  holy  and  meek  life,  and  the  chief  weapon 
at  the  time  a  serious  temper  of  mind,  such  as  ex- 
presses our  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  things  which 
we  are  saying.  Too  often  where  a  man's  vanity  will 
not  allow  us  to  refute  his  arguments,  where  the  mere 
narrowness  of  his  mind  prevents  his  comprehending 


i6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ii. 

the  length  and  breadth  and  height  of  the  love  of  God, 
or  where  our  own  feeble  powers  or  want  of  learning- 
may  prevent  our  doing  justice  to  the  same,  we  may 
draw  him  to  us  by  the  cords  of  sympathy,  we  may 
make  him  feel  that  we  have  something  (if  indeed  we 
have  it)  that  he  has  not,  something  that  he  would 
feign  have  and  that  human  nature  itself  seems  to 
long  for,  that  he  sees  to  be  the  support  of  others  on 
the  bed  of  sickness  and  in  the  grave  and  gate  of 
death.  We  may  draw  him  from  disputes  about  the 
facts  of  Christianity  to  feel  its  spirit  and  power,  to 
live  the  life  of  Christ  when  he  is  uncertain  about  the 
narrative  of  his  life,  to  pass  from  vain  philosophy 
and  knowledge  falsely  so  called  until  he  is  not  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  We  can  imagine  such 
a  person  harassed  by  doubts  and  difficulties,  yet  by 
the  grace  of  God  so  growing  in  the  practice  of  the 
Christian  faith  that  he  almost  becomes  a  partaker  of 
the  blessing  on  those  who  have  not  seen  and  yet 
have  believed. 

The  case  of  the  sceptic,  which  has  just  been  con- 
sidered, is  not  a  common  one,  at  least  where  men  have 
had  a  Christian  education  and  lived  in  a  Christian 
country.  There  are  such  persons,  however,  in  all  the 
various  ranks  of  society,  some  endeavouring  to  scale 
the  heights  of  philosophy,  others  laying-  it  down  as 
a  principle  that  this  life  is  to  be  preferred  to  another, 
others  led  away  by  an  uneasy  temper  of  mind  and 
by  the   help  of  a  little  learning-  able  to  doubt  what 


II.]  RELIGIOUS  DOUBTS  17 

other  men  believe.  For  It  is  quite  true,  as  has  been 
said,  that  a  little  philosophy  takes  a  man  from  God 
but  a  great  deal  brings  him  back  again.  If  a  man  has 
studied  himself  out  of  religion  he  must  study  himself 
into  it  again.  But  most  of  us  have  not  time  for  study, 
at  least  in  after  life :  the  inquiry  into  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  things  is  a  mere  name  and  shadow  to  us,  and 
the  greatest  of  men  have  allowed  how  feeble  were  their 
own  powers  of  comprehension,  how  little  they  could 
assert  authoritatively  beyond  what  was  necessary  for 
daily  life.  What  we  can  do,  what  is  very  near  to  us, 
is  to  live  the  life  of  Christ.  And  this  leads  us  to  con- 
sider the  subject  in  another  way,  not  as  we  may  seem 
to  stand  on  a  vantage-ground  and  fight  a  battle  with 
an  imaginary  opponent,  but  as  we  ourselves  may 
become  the  opponents  with  ourselves  of  the  truth 
that  is  in  Christ — when  like  Peter  we  begin  to  sink, 
walking  upon  the  sea  of  life,  and  need  the  outstretched 
hand  of  the  Lord  to  save  us  from  perishing.  Even 
the  Apostle  Paul  himself  found  that  dark  clouds  of 
doubt  passed  over  his  mind :  his  Sun  was  not  always 
shining:  without  were  fightings,  within  were  fears — 
and  at  times  the  world  and  all  it  contained  seemed  to 
be  in  the  power  of  the  evil,  as  at  other  times  ready  to 
burst  forth  with  the  revelation  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Confining  ourselves  then  to  the  influence  of  doubt 
and  unbelief  on  our  own  minds,  let  us  endeavour  to 
trace  its  causes  and  their  remedies,  not  as  a  matter  of 
curious   speculation,   but   as   one   of  deep  and  near 

C 


i8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [n. 

interest  to  us,  In  reference  to  which  we  may  do  much 
for  ourselves  by  self- discipline  and  what  has  been 
termed  '  the  law  of  a  holy  life.'  Sometimes  doubts 
arise  from  our  coming  across  a  more  powerful  and 
vigorous  mind  than  our  own,  or  from  reading  some 
book  that  gets  a  peculiar  hold  on  our  sympathies 
and  tastes,  or  from  one  part  of  our  faith  being  shaken 
and  seeming  to  involve  all,  or  even  as  a  reaction 
against  the  overstrictness  of  a  religious  education. 
It  is  a  great  thing  if  we  can  hold  our  head  above 
these  difficulties  and  steer  our  way  through  them, 
not  by  the  help  of  genius  or  of  learning  or  criticism, 
but  by  that  of  common  sense.  Somehow  or  other 
they  seem  to  affect  men  very  differently :  one  man 
brushes  them  aside  like  cobwebs  and  goes  on  his  way 
rejoicing  to  do  God  service,  '  like  a  giant  to  run  his 
course,'  while  another  man  is  talking  about  them  all 
his  life  long  and  seems  to  find  in  them  an  aliment 
for  the  natural  unhealthiness  of  his  mind.  For,  after 
all,  doubt  is  not  some  great  exertion  of  the  mind,  but 
mere  weakness,  which  like  some  diseases  affects  us 
more  at  one  time  of  life  than  another ;  and  we  may 
hope  to  live  through  it  like  other  disorders.  And  it 
is  a  disorder  in  which  every  man  must  minister  to 
himself,  not  without  the  hope  that  Christ  who  took 
upon  Him  our  infirmities  will  take  this  also.  No  man, 
it  has  been  said,  has  more  doubts  than  he  can  carry : 
nature  herself  forbids  the  mind  to  remain  for  ever  in 
a  state  of  unrest.     And  it  is  in  a  manner  certain,  as 


11.]  WAYWARDNESS  OF  DOUBT  19 

we  may  see  by  experience,  that,  if  we  doubt  when 
we  are  young,  those  doubts  will  pass  away  in  mature 
life.  Even  the  heathen  philosopher  Plato  said,  '  My 
son,  many  have  ere  now  doubted  of  the  existence 
of  the  gods,  but  no  man  ever  passed  from  youth  to 
age  without  at  some  time  or  other  believing.' 

The  waywardness  then  of  these  impressions  of 
doubt  is  of  itself  their  own  best  solution.  They 
trouble  us  for  a  while  and  then  pass  away  as  a  dream 
when  one  awaketh.  How  can  any  rational  man 
attach  much  weight  to  that  which  appears  to  him 
different  at  different  times,  which  is  affected  by  his 
health  or  spirits,  or  even  by  the  disappointments  or 
other  circumstances  of  his  life }  But  there  may  be 
cases  in  which  doubts  may  have  had  a  deeper  hold, 
and  cut  down,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  into 
our  life  and  character.  These  cases  are  chiefly  two. 
First,  where  the  mind  is  already  unsettled,  and 
from  its  own  unhappy  state  has  a  natural  love  for 
doubt  as  for  any  other  excitement  of  the  intellect ; 
or  where  from  defective  previous  education  it  is 
altogether  unable  to  take  the  measure  of  things  or 
form  a  judgment  respecting  them,  and  yet  is  destitute 
of  any  fixed  habit  of  life  and  conduct  which  may  pre- 
vent its  being  the  prey  of  every  passing  thought.  Ill- 
regulated  minds  are,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Episde, 
'  clouds  without  water,'  passing  ever  to  and  fro  upon 
the  earth,  and  never  descending  in  genial  showers  to 
fertilise  its  bosom.     And  there  are  other  peculiarities 

C  2 


20  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [n. 

of  temperament,  such  as  vanity,  restlessness,  intel- 
lectual ambition,  which  indulge  in  doubt  as  the  key 
to  all  knowledge,  and  on  these  it  may  have  an 
unhealthy  and  more  than  passing-  influence.  The 
only  way  to  cure  such  disorders  is  to  be  aware  of 
them,  to  place  ourselves  above  them,  to  despise  our- 
selves for  them,  not  to  attribute  to  zeal  for  knowledge 
what  really  arises  from  some  lesser  motive — to  perceive 
that  they  are  our  weakness  and  not  our  strength. 

I  am  not  saying  a  word  against  the  honest  truthful 
inquiry,  even  into  the  first  principles  of  faith,  for 
those  who  have  time  and  learning  and  an  under- 
standing capable  of  it.  Such  inquiries,  if  men  give 
their  whole  heart  and  life  to  them,  not  without  prayer, 
may  be  a  blessing  to  the  world  and  serve  to  correct 
the  gradual  and  insensible  corruptions  of  religion. 
j  But  the  spirit  of  which  I  am  speaking  is  the  most 
alien  to  that  of  inquiry ;  it  might  be  called  the  ghost 
of  inquiry,  which  no  sooner  finds  a  doubt  than  it 
leaves  it  and  stirs  up  the  waters  of  life  to  bring  the 
sediment  of  them  to  the  top. 

(2)  But  once  more  let  us  consider  one  other  cause 
of  unbelief,  and  that  the  most  serious  of  all — the  cor- 
ruption of  the  human  heart,  a  cause  which  applies 
not  to  the  few  but  to  the  many.  By  the  corruption 
of  the  human  heart  I  do  not  mean  original  sin,  that 
natural  state  of  evil  into  which  it  has  pleased  God 
that  we  should  all  pass  at  our  entrance  into  this  world, 
but    actual    corruption,    the   leading   a   worldly   and 


II.]  UNBELIEF  OF  THE  HEART  21 

immoral  life — falsehood,  malice,  uncharitableness,  forni- 
cation, drunkenness,  and  such-like  things,  which  all 
mankind  regard  as  evil,  and  about  which  there  can  be 
no  mistake.  He  who  does  any  of  these  things  will 
have  a  great  temptation  either  to  deceive  himself  about 
religion  or  to  disbelieve  rehgion.  God  has  so  ordered 
the  human  mind  that  our  reason  is  in  a  great  measure 
dependent  upon  our  will — we  cannot  separate  the  one 
from  the  other.  And  when  we  are  permanently  and 
habitually  leading  a  life  which  upon  any  view  of  an- 
other world,  if  there  be  another  world  at  all,  cannot  but 
deserve  God's  wrath,  it  follows  almost  by  a  sort  of 
natural  logic  that  we  shall  cease  to  beheve  what  w^e  have 
so  Httle  interest  in  believing.  It  may  be  that  from  the 
treasury  of  self-deceit  we  shall  furnish  ourselves  with 
some  new  disguise,  that  we  may  learn  to  look  upon  our 
own  evil  as  good :  it  may  be  that  religion  will  silently 
drop  out  of  our  minds  as  though  it  had  never  been, 
and  we  shall  hve  and  die  as  the  brutes  that  perish — 
at  any  rate  we  shall  lose  the  sense  of  its  vital  power : 
it  may  be  also  that  we  shall  openly  disown  or  attack 
it,  making  our  jests  ring  against  the  failing  of  its  pro- 
fessors, apprehending  only  its  diflSculties,  perceiving 
only  its  evils,  and  all  this  to  conceal  from  ourselves  and 
from  others  the  state  of  our  own  souls. 

Not  to  pursue  further  this  train  of  thought,  let  us 
briefly  look  at  the  same  subject  from  the  other  side, 
not  of  unbeHef  but  of  belief.  There  is  the  behef  of 
the  head  and  the  beUef  of  the  heart.     And  these  two 


22  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [n. 

I  blend  together  in  one.  As  the  heart  believes,  the 
1  objects  of  belief  gradually  clear  and  become  definite 
!  to  us.  We  no  longer  use  words  merely :  we  feel 
within  us  that  they  have  a  meaning :  but  our  inward 
experience  becomes  the  rock  on  which  we  stand :  it 
is  like  the  consciousness  of  our  own  existence.  Can 
I  doubt  that  He  who  has  taught  me  to  serve  Him  from 
my  youth  upward — He  who  supported  me  in  that  ill- 
ness, who  brought  me  near  to  the  gates  of  death  and 
left  me  not  alone,  is  none  other  than  God  Himself? 
Can  I  doubt  that  He  who  gave  me  the  impulse  to 
devote  myself  to  His  work  and  to  the  good  of  man- 
kind, who  in  some  way  inexpHcable  to  me  enables 
me  to  calm  the  violence  of  passion,  the  thought  of 
envy,  malice,  impurity,  to  whom  I  go  to  lay  open  my 
breast  and  cleanse  the  thoughts  of  my  heart,  can  be 
none  other  than  the  true  God  ?  Can  it  be  that  that 
example  which  He  has  given  me  in  the  life  of  His 
Son  is  other  than  the  truth  for  me  and  all  mankind  ? 
Here  we  seem  to  have  found  the  right  starting-point. 
'  Lord,  I  believe ;   help  Thou  mine  unbelief 

Belief  then  must  radiate  from  Hfe:  what  we  are, 
in  a  certain  sense,  we  shall  believe.  And  the  degree 
of  our  belief  must  in  a  great  measure  depend  upon 
the  inward  evidence  we  have  ourselves  obtained  of 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel— no  ingenious  arguments, 
no  historical  evidence,  can  supply  the  lack  of  this. 
Custom,  and  habit,  and  knowledge,  and  convention 
are  poor  staffs  for  a  man  to  lean  upon  when  he  comes 


II.]  BELIEF  RADIATING  FROM  LIFE  23 

to  die,  when  the  memory  fails  and  the  intellect  is 
no  more  able  to  exert  itself,  when  the  door  of  an- 
other world  opens  upon  us  in  vacancy  and  darkness. 
What  will  remain  then  is  the  surest  ground  of  our  faith 
now — what  has  stood  by  us  in  all  the  changing  scenes 
of  life,  what  all  men  may  have  in  common,  what  is  the 
support  equally  of  the  philosopher  as  of  the  little 
child,  what  in  the  best  moments  of  Hfe  we  are  con- 
scious of:  if  there  have  been  any  devotion  to  the  work 
of  God,  any  utter  sense  of  our  own  unworthiness, 
any  special  renunciation  of  worldly  gain  or  advan- 
tages, any  real  act  of  self-denial  though  in  a  very 
humble  sphere — that  will  be  a  real  comfort  and  sup- 
port in  death,  and,  if  not  our  only,  is  our  highest 
ground  of  faith  in  life. 

My  brethren,  I  have  ventured  to  speak  to  you  on 
this  subject,  because  it  seems  right  that,  at  the  present 
time  especially,  we  should  all  of  us  consider  a  Httle 
the  grounds  of  our  belief.  The  least  reflecting 
person  cannot  fail  to  be  aware  that  during  the  last 
twenty  years  a  great  change  of  opinion  has  taken 
place  in  this  University,  and  almost,  it  may  be  said, 
throughout  this  country.  How  far  such  changes  of 
opinion  may  be  the  reawakening  of  a  slumbering 
past,  what  reactions  they  may  give  birth  to,  whether 
they  tend  to  further  divisions  or  separations,  to 
strengthen  religion  or  the  contrary,  is  not  necessary 
to  inquire  here.  So  far  as  we  inquire  into  them  at 
all,  let  us  inquire  into  them  by  the  help  not  of  our 


24  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ii. 

individual  sympathy  or  antipathy,  but  by  the  light  of 
history  and  experience.  Happening  in  this  place 
they  must  exercise  an  undue  influence  over  us.  We 
are  not  so  made  as  to  be  insensible  to  the  opinions 
of  good  and  earnest  men,  however  transient  and 
fluctuating,  with  whom  we  are  in  habits  of  daily 
intercourse.  It  would  be  a  signal  error  to  shut 
ourselves  up  in  the  hope  of  escaping  them.  We 
should  lose  much  of  the  lesson  that  God  has  intended 
us  to  learn.  And  yet  we  would  not  build  for  eternity 
on  that  w^hich  may  have  changed  ere  twenty  ^^ears 
are  passed  away.  Our  light,  we  feel,  must  be  the  light 
of  the  w^orld,  not  that  of  a  party  or  of  a  season,  or  of 
a  place  or  of  an  individual. 

And  therefore,  resting  not  upon  all  these  changes 
of  opinion  but  above  and  within  them,  let  us  lay 
for  ourselves  a  good  foundation,  which  can  be  no 
other  than  a  pure  and  holy  life.  '  Whether  there  be 
opinions  they  shall  change,  whether  there  be  systems 
they  shall  fail,  w^hether  there  be  knowledge  it  shall 
vanish  away.'  But  charity  never  faileth — and  truth 
never  fails,  and  he  w^ho  has  these  has  the  witness  in 
himself.  But  custom  may  overlay  them  and  prejudice 
may  narrow  them,  and  that  which  is  in  its  true 
nature  all-embracing  and  universal  may  become  the 
watchword  of  persons  or  parties.  Let  us  know  of 
no  other  watchwords  but  the  life  of  Christ,  the  mind 
of  Christ,  the  cross  of  Christ.  He  w^ho,  kneeling  at 
the   Lord's  table  to-morrow,  can  discharge  his  mind 


,1.]  SOLUTION  OF  DOUBTS  25 

of  all  envy,  malice,  irritability,  coldness,  can  raze 
from  his  memory  all  impurity,  can  pluck  from  his 
soul  every  disguise  of  untruth  and  self-deceit,  can 
devote  his  life  a  sacrifice  to  the  service  of  God  and 
man,  has  that  within  him  at  which  the  clouds  of 
unbelief  fly  away,  which,  as  it  is  independent  of 
the  opinions  of  teachers  and  thinkers,  will  survive 
them  in  the  hour  of  death  and  the  day  of  judgment. 


Ill 


^  JERUSALEM  IS   BUILT  AS   A    CITY  WHICH   IS  AT 
UNITY   WITH  ITSELF. 

Psalm  cxxii.  3. 

There  must  be  some  persons  here  present  who  are 
making  acquaintance  with  Oxford  for  the  first  time. 
These,  as  well  as  all  of  us,  I  would  invite  to  think 
a  little  of  the  fair  scene  by  which  they  are  surrounded 
and  of  the  memories  of  the  past.  There  is  nothing- 
more  interesting-  than  the  first  sight  of  a  great  and 
ancient  city,  and  we  should  not  allow  ourselves 
through  indolence  or  inadvertence  to  lose  this  im- 
pression, which  may  hereafter  be  so  charming  a 
recollection  to  us.  Of  no  other  English  city  can 
we  say  with  equal  truth,  '  That  the  new  which  it 
has  is  old,  and  the  old  is  ever  entwined  with  the 
new.'  There  is  probably  no  place  in  which  so  many 
eminent  men  have  passed  several  years  of  their  life. 
These  things,  if  we  have  our  mind  and  eyes  open  to 
them,  are  among  the  best  recollections  of  Oxford. 
Here  it  is  natural  that  something  of  the  temper  of 
the   antiquary   should    be    aroused    in    us,   and   that 

^  Addressed  specially  to  Freshmen,  on  the  first  Sunday 
of  the  October  Term,  1885. 


OXFORD  NEW  AND  OLD  27 

through  antiquarian  interests  we  should  find  an  in- 
troduction to  histor}^  '  Let  us  walk  about  Zion  and 
tell  the  towers  thereof,'  and  wander  beside  her  streams 
and  in  her  gardens ;  that,  if  our  lives  are  spared,  fifty 
years  hence  we  may  be  able  to  speak  of  her  to  those 
that  come  after.  Within  the  last  half  century  the 
aspect  of  Oxford  has  undergone  greater  changes  than 
in  the  two  centuries  which  preceded ;  her  borders 
have  been  enlarged,  and  in  another  half  century  the 
town  will  have  yet  further  encroached  upon  the 
country. 

Eight  hundred  years  ago,  as  modern  historians  tell 
us,  no  traces  are  to  be  discovered  of  the  existence  of 
a  University  in  this  place;  there  was  nothing  but  a 
small  school  attached  to  a  monastery;  many  similar 
schools  existed  elsewhere  in  England  at  that  time. 
Two  centuries  later  there  had  arisen  on  this  very  spot 
a  considerable  college  of  which  by  regular  succession 
we  are  the  legitimate  heirs  and  descendants.  This,  and 
two  other  colleges  at  Oxford  and  one  at  Cambridge, 
are  the  oldest  surviving  educational  or  collegiate 
foundations  in  England.  Universities,  like  cities,  are 
not  made,  but  grow ;  we  cannot  tell  exactly  how  or 
when  they  begin ;  even  the  meaning  of  the  word 
'  university '  and  the  definition  of  a  college  have 
been  matters  of  dispute  in  recent  times.  The  look 
of  the  city  or  the  University  of  Oxford  in  the  twelfth 
century  is  entirely  unknown  to  us,  and,  almost  equally 
so,  the  way  of  life  which  prevailed  among  the  students. 


28  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

The  town  was  built  upon  a  long  and  narrow  strip 
extending  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  point  of 
the  river'  where  Magdalen  College  now  stands  to  the 
ruined  castle  near  the  railway  station.  The  remains 
of  the  north  wall  are  still  to  be  seen  at  the  back  of 
Holywell  in  the  gardens  of  New  College,  and  also 
just  a  fragment  behind  the  houses  on  the  opposite 
side  of  this  street " ;  the  lower  part  of  the  south  wall, 
rising  a  few  feet  above  the  ground,  is  still  left  in  Merton 
meadows.  The  site  of  this  college  was  outside  the 
walls,  and  probably  for  half  a  century  it  stood  alone 
in  the  fields.  The  south-western  side  of  the  city  was 
girt  by  the  great  monasteries,  Rewley,  Osney,  and  St. 
Frideswide,  then  by  far  the  most  lordly  buildings  of 
Oxford,  which,  like  nearly  all  the  monastic  institutions 
of  England,  except  where,  as  at  Christ  Church,  they 
have  been  used  as  cathedrals  or  parish  churches,  have 
perished  or  exist  only  as  ruins  ;  some  of  them  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  one  stone  left  upon  another. 
And  within  the  city  there  were  other  monasteries  of 
which  neither  a  vestige  nor  a  picture  remains.  It  is 
an  interesting  historical  question  to  consider  why,  both 
in  England  and  in  other  countries,  the  school  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  church,  and  colleges  and  univer- 
sities have  increased  and  flourished  while  monasteries 
have  fallen  into  decay — the  one  seeming  to  contain  in 
them  the  seeds  of  life,  the  others — to  whom,  never- 
theless, the  European  world  in  its  early  development 

^  Cherwell.  -  i.  e.  Broad  Street. 


III.]  ANCIENT  BUILDINGS  29 

owed  so  great  a  debt — to  have  had  in  them  the  seeds 
of  death  only  and  to  be  gradually  disappearing  from 
the  Christian  world. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  speak  to  you 
further  of  the  buildings  of  Oxford,  which,  though 
so  various,  seem  to  have  acquired  a  sort  of  unity. 
The  study  of  architecture  in  our  day  has  become 
a  part  of  general  education ;  it  is  necessary  for  the 
common  purposes  of  life,  and  nowhere  is  there  a 
better  opportunity  for  pursuing  it  than  in  this  place, 
where  mediaeval  English  building  is  to  be  seen  in 
a  continuous  series  of  examples,  from  the  Norman 
arches  of  the  Cathedral  down  to  the  excellent  imita- 
tions or  survivals  which  are  found  in  Wadham  College 
and  in  the  southern  front  of  Merton.  I  have  said  a 
few  words  on  these  subjects  in  the  hope  that  you 
may  make  a  study  of  them  for  yourselves  in  this 
place  where  they  lie  so  near,  and  that  you  may  learn 
to  appreciate  Oxford  from  many  sides,  and  may 
realize  how  great  is  the  inheritance  of  the  past  to 
which  you  have  succeeded. 

Yet  more  interesting  than  the  external  aspect  of 
the  colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  is  the  reflec- 
tion that  they  have  been  the  homes  of  illustrious  men 
during  the  whole  or  some  part  of  their  lives.  Here 
they  walked  and  talked ;  the  halls  and  chapels  and 
gardens  which  we  frequent  were  their  daily  resorts ; 
in  some  of  the  rooms  which  are  still  occupied  by  us 
they  passed  their  days ;  the  spires  and  towers  which 


30  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

we  look  upon,  though  not  ahvays  unchanged,  were  to 
their  eyes  also  a  familiar  sight.  These  things  may  be 
said  to  be  accidents,  as  indeed  they  partly  are.  But 
mankind  are  so  constituted  that  the  thought  of  them 
makes  a  great  impression  upon  our  minds.  In  one 
sense  these  great  men  were  more  truly  our  fathers 
and  makers  than  those  other  benefactors  of  whom 
mention  is  made  in  the  prayer  which  precedes  the 
University  sermon,  for  they  were  the  makers  of  our 
minds.  They  belong  to  different  ages ;  they  did  not 
all  bear  the  same  stamp ;  even  when  living  at  the  same 
time  they  were  often  the  very  opposite  of  one  another. 
Some  of  them  go  back  to  days  before  the  existence 
of  colleges,  as,  for  example,  Grostete  and  Roger 
Bacon ;  they  were  great  thinkers  within  the  limits  of 
their  own  times  and  bounded  by  the  state  of  know- 
ledge which  then  existed  in  the  world.  Beginning  at 
a  somewhat  later  date,  nearly  every  college  boasts  of 
one  or  two  among  her  sons  whom  she  regards  with 
a  peculiar  reverence.  Such  were  Wolsey  and  Colet 
at  Magdalen  College,  two  of  the  greatest  men  of  their 
time,  but  how  different !  The  one  the  great  statesman 
and  political  intriguer,  the  other  the  scholar  and  saint, 
who  must  have  been  contemporaries,  or  nearly  so,  at 
Magdalen  ;  and  at  the  same  college  in  the  last  century, 
separated  from  one  another  by  an  interval  of  about 
seventy  years,  were  Joseph  Addison  and  Edward 
Gibbon.  Such  again  at  Christ  Church  in  the  previous 
century  was  John  Locke,  though  alien  to  the  genius 


in.]  GREAT  OXFORD  MEN  31 

of  the  place ;  and  more  than  a  century  later  at  Queen's 
College  Jeremy  Bentham,  to  whom  the  same  remark 
may  be  applied.  Such  at  Merton  was  Harvey,  the 
discoverer  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood ;  or  at  Corpus 
in  the  olden  time,  Richard  Hooker,  and  later,  Thomas 
Arnold  and  John  Keble.  Such  were  the  two  great 
English  statesmen.  Lord  Somers  and  Lord  Chatham, 
at  the  neighbouring  college  of  Trinity  ;  or  at  Univer- 
sity College,  the  famous  lawyers,  Lord  Stowell  and 
Lord  Eldon.  Once  more,  at  Lincoln  College  there 
was  John  Wesley,  the  aposde  (if  such  a  name  may  be 
applied  to  any  later  teacher  or  preacher)  of  the  whole 
English-speaking  race  throughout  the  world.  Such  at 
Oriel  College  was  Cardinal  Newman ;  or  at  Pembroke, 
better  known  to  posterity  than  any  man  who  ever 
lived,  Samuel  Johnson.  And  I  must  not  forget  to  men- 
tion Hart  Hall,  called  also  Hertford  College  in  the  last 
century,  which  was  not  saved  from  extinction  by  the 
great  names  of  Thomas  Hobbes,  John  Selden,  and 
Charles  James  Fox. 

I  have  spoken  to  you  of  the  past  and  of  the  great 
men  who  once  resided  within  these  walls,  because  such 
thoughts  have  an  interest  for  us  and  may  exercise  an 
ennobling  influence  on  our  lives.  I  will  now  draw  the 
subject  closer  and  speak  to  you  more  particularly  of 
the  ancient  society  to  which  we  belong  and  to  which 
many  of  us  feel  that  we  owe  so  much.  Shall  I  describe 
it  as  the  house  in  which  we  live,  the  home  to  which 
we  return  in  later  years  as  that  of  a  relation  or  friend  ? 


32  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

May  we  regard  it  in  a  figure  as  the  temple  of  God, 
which  temple  are  ye  ?  We  may  think  of  it  also  as 
a  place  of  study  or  of  society  in  which  we  are  growing 
up  from  youth  to  manhood,  a  lesser  world  introducing 
us  to  a  greater  in  which  we  hope  to  bear  a  part.  We 
may  think  of  it,  too,  as  an  institution  having  a  long 
history,  continuing  by  regular  election  or  succession 
of  persons  for  more  than  six  hundred  years — such  an 
institution  as  exists  only  in  England,  beginning  amid 
the  wars  of  the  English  and  Scotch  and  the  differences 
of  North  and  South,  surviving  the  Reformation  and 
the  great  Civil  Wars,  passing  through  many  fluctua- 
tions of  religion  and  philosophical  opinion,  both  in 
our  own  and  in  other  times,  lasting  without  interrup- 
tion to  this  day.  We  may  think  also  with  pride  of 
the  many  eminent  men  with  whom  through  it  we  may 
claim  affinity,  such  as  were  John  Wiclif,  the  first  and 
greatest  of  English  reformers,  who,  a  little  more  than 
five  hundred  years  ago,  was  taken  to  his  rest ;  and  we 
remark  with  interest  that  in  later  times,  about  a  century 
and  a  half  since,  another  great  man,  the  philosopher 
and  political  economist,  Adam  Smith,  resided  for  seven 
years  within  our  walls ;  here  he  studied  and  thought, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  his  two  great  works.  There 
have  been  some,  too,  in  our  own  day  who  have  left 
a  mark  upon  their  generation — such  were  the  late 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Archbishop  Manning, 
Arthur  Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster,  Arthur  Hugh 
Clough,  Matthew  Arnold,  Henry  John  Stephen  Smith, 


i„.]  BALLIOL   COLLEGE  33 

Arnold  Toynbee,  all  of  whom,  with  two  exceptions, 
have  been  Scholars  of  this  college.  And  there  have 
been  others  who  have  also  left  an  example  for  us,  if 
we  are  able  to  walk  in  their  footsteps. 

The  modern  history  of  this  college  regarded  as 
an  educational  institution  dates  from  about  eighty 
years  ago.  Shall  I  give  you  some  account  of  it, 
partly  derived  from  my  own  recollection,  partly  from 
the  tradition  of  those  whom  I  knew  in  my  early  life  ? 
At  the  beginning  of  the  century  it  was  a  small  society, 
not  containing  a  third  of  its  present  numbers.  It 
has  had  a  large  share  of  University  honours  and 
successes,  and  such  distinctions  are  not  to  be  despised 
if  sought  after  from  a  love  of  knowledge  and  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  getting  on  in  the  world.  I  do 
not  wish  to  under-estimate  them  :  they  are  a  good  be- 
ginning; they  afford  proofs  of  industry  and  ability; 
they  give  order  and  method  to  study.  But  something 
more  is  required  in  a  college.  Unity,  and  friendship, 
and  loyalty,  and  public  spirit,  and  intellectual  energy, 
and  a  high  standard  of  character  and  manners, — these 
are  the  elements  which  make  a  great  society.  In  the 
year  1828  the  Scholarships  were  thrown  open  to 
competition ;  and  this  more  than  any  other  change 
we  may  regard  as  the  turning-point  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  college :  it  was  the  first  instance  of  an  election 
to  a  Scholarship  by  competition.  There  are  two 
other  causes  to  which  I  should  attribute  any  measure 
of  success  which  has  been  attained  by  us.     First,  the 

D 


34  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

personal  and  individual  interest  taken  by  the  teachers 
in  their  pupils,  now  common,  but  not  so  common 
a  generation  or  two  back.  Many  distinguishished 
persons  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of 
education  in  this  college  and  have  desired  no  better 
field  for  their  energies.  They  have  thought,  not  of 
themselves,  but  of  others;  they  have  lavished  their 
time  upon  their  pupils,  and  have  been  suflSciently 
rewarded  by  their  gratitude  and  affection.  A  further 
cause  of  success  has  been  the  liberality  in  money 
matters  which  has  become  traditional  among  us; 
public  interests  have  been  preferred  to  private  ones ; 
and  thus  a  small  foundation  has  been  able  to  vie 
with  larger  and  wealthier  ones. 

Most  persons  who  have  reached  mature  life  have 
a  vivid  remembrance  of  the  three  or  four  years 
which  they  passed  at  Oxford,  especially  of  the  first 
few  days.  These,  like  the  first  days  of  travel  in 
a  foreign  country,  leave  an  indelible  impression  on 
the  mind : — I  am  speaking  still  from  my  own  recol- 
lections. The  change  from  school  to  the  University 
was  the  greatest  event  which  had  happened  in  our 
lives,  greater,  perhaps,  formerly  than  now :  we  were 
making  a  new  start,  we  were  full  of  hope  and  ambi- 
tion. The  world  that  was  opening  upon  us  had 
a  great  charm,  and  awakened  the  feeling  of  romance 
in  our  minds.  We  were  independent  as  we  had 
never  been  before.  We  sat  down  in  our  rooms  and 
invited  our  friends.     We  were  our  own  masters  and 


III.]  COLLEGE  LIFE  35 

could  do  as  we  pleased.  The  beauty  and  the  asso- 
ciations of  the  place,  the  antiquity  of  the  buildings, 
the  picturesqueness  of  the  streets,  produced  a  great 
effect  upon  us.  A  new  and  more  liberal  style  of 
teaching  and  learning  succeeded  to  the  narrower 
regime  of  school.  The  characters  of  some  of  us 
grew  as  much  in  a  term  as  they  had  grown  in  a  year 
before.  We  delighted  in  the  society  of  our  fellows. 
Here  was  an  opportunity  of  forming  friendships 
such  as  never  recurs  in  after-life.  We  were  not 
confined  in  the  choice  of  them  to  our  own  college ; 
but  from  all  colleges  men  were  drawn  together  by 
common  tastes  and  pursuits.  There  were  characters, 
too,  who  made  themselves  felt  among  us :  we  were 
persuaded  that  many  of  our  companions  would  rise 
to  eminence  in  after-life.  A  kindly  feeling  was  shown 
to  poor  men,  and  sometimes  a  great  friendship  would 
spring  up  between  men  of  talent  and  men  of  rank 
or  wealth,  to  the  great  advantage  of  both  of  them. 
No  greater  opportunities  could  be  enjoyed  by  youth 
than  were  given  to  us  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  though 
we  had  not  the  knowledge  of  ourselves  or  of  other 
men  or  of  the  world  generally  which  would  have 
enabled  us  to  turn  them  to  the  best  account. 

Human  nature  has  not  altered  in  the  last  half- 
century  so  much  as  we  often  suppose.  There  is 
greater  refinement  in  the  present  day,  and  greater 
decorum :  there  is  also  more  knowledge  and  steady 
industry.     On  the  other  hand,  though  on  this  point 

D  2 


36  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

I  may  hardly  seem  a  fair  judge,  there  was  more 
heartiness  and  originality  and  force  among  the  youth 
of  that  day,  and  there  was  not  the  same  tendency  to 
self-analysis.  Still  the  two  generations  are  not  so 
unlike  that  we  may  not  reason  from  one  to  the 
other  or  draw  a  lesson  from  the  example  of  the 
past.  The  difficulties  and  temptations  of  the  one 
are  for  the  most  part  the  difficulties  and  temptations 
of  the  other.  The  atmosphere  of  this  place,  instead 
of  stimulating,  seemed  to  unsettle  some  of  them; 
they  did  not  see  that  it  was  their  duty  to  form  habits 
of  regularity  and  economy,  or  to  resist  the  impulses 
of  passion  and  self-indulgence ;  they  did  not  under- 
stand that  when  the  restraints  of  school  were  with- 
draw^n,  they  must  impose  a  higher  restraint  upon 
themselves ;  they  were  their  own  masters,  but  had 
not  learnt  to  manage  their  lives.  Some  of  them 
were  carried  away  by  the  theological  movement  which 
was  then  in  the  air ;  they  read  or  pretended  to  read 
the  Fathers  instead  of  the  Classics ;  they  did  not  see 
how  small  a  place  religion  has  in  any  party  move- 
ment. Some  rather  exhausted  than  strengthened 
their  minds  by  study ;  they  were  always  poring  over 
books,  but  added  little  or  nothing  to  their  stores ; 
the  simple  truth,  that  the  object  of  study  is  the  en- 
largement and  improvement  of  the  mind,  and  not 
the  mere  acquisition  of  knowledge,  hardly  seemed 
to  have  occurred  to  them ;  they  did  not  consider 
whether  they  could  write  better  or  think  more  clearly 


in.]        TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES         37 

or  converse  more  agreeably,  whether  they  grew  in 
mind,  whether  they  had  gained  energy  :  these  were 
not  the  measures  or  tests  which  they  applied  to 
themselves.  One  or  two  made  the  serious  mistake 
of  withdrawing  themselves  from  society.  There  were 
others  who  were  not  students  at  all,  and  yet  were 
great  lovers  of  the  college :  they  were  devoted  to 
its  games  and  amusements ;  they  sought  to  keep  men 
together  in  society,  and  were  much  liked  and  re- 
spected for  their  friendly  and  genial  ways.  There 
were  others,  again,  possessed  of  great  and  various 
gifts,  with  whom  it  was  a  privilege  to  associate, 
whom  owing  to  their  retiring  nature  we  hardly 
valued  enough  at  the  time. 

The  reflections  which  elder  persons  make  upon 
the  earlier  years  of  their  own  lives  can  never  be  fully 
realized  by  the  young.  We  must  all  learn  for  our- 
selves, partly  because  the  circumstances  of  individuals 
differ,  and  also  because  no  words  can  teach  like 
actual  experience.  We  do  not  readily  see  ourselves 
as  others  see  us.  If  we  were  to  attend  to  our  own 
characters  in  youth,  we  might  cure  many  faults  and 
weaknesses  which  are  gradually  becoming  a  part  of 
us.  The  work  of  ordering  our  lives  is  complex : 
there  are  defects,  such  as  want  of  tact,  want  of 
punctuality,  want  of  habits  of  business,  which  are 
as  bad  in  their  consequences  as  more  serious  moral 
faults.  We  want  to  strengthen  the  better  elements 
in  ourselves   and   to   starve   and   subdue  the  worse ; 


38  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [m. 

we  want  to  get  rid  of  the  secret  faults  which  are 
known  to  ourselves  only,  and  to  live  in  innocence 
and  the  fear  of  God.  Changes  of  place  and  circum- 
stances are  gracious  aids  to  moral  improvement, 
like  the  change  of  air  which  often  enables  us  to 
throw  off  diseases  of  the  body.  Let  us  ask  our- 
selves a  few  questions  now  that  we  are  about  to 
enter  upon  a  new  scene  or  stage.  What  is  the 
weakness  which  most  easily  besets  us  ?  Are  we  too 
liable  to  take  offence,  too  sensitive,  too  apt  to  think 
that  we  are  slighted,  too  dependent  on  the  appro- 
bation of  others  ?  Of  such  defects  of  character  let 
us  beware,  for,  unless  we  do  so,  they  will  accompany 
us  through  life.  Are  we  incapable  of  fixing  the 
attention,  liable  to  vagueness  and  inaccuracy,  apt  to 
forget  what  we  have  just  learnt  ?  Let  us  remember 
that  these  faults  of  mind  or  education  will  be  fatal 
to  our  success,  not  only  in  the  University  but  in  the 
world.  Or  if  there  be  any  one  to  whom  the  silly, 
smiling,  conceited  image  of  self  is  always  recurring, 
let  him  think  how  ridiculous  this  weakness  makes 
him  in  the  eyes  of  his  fellow-men,  let  him  shake  off 
vanity  and  resolve  to  be  a  man.  Or  is  he  conscious 
to  himself  of  graver  sins  ?  let  him  determine  by 
the  grace  of  God  to  lead  a  new  life,  and  not  allow 
the  happiness  of  youth  to  be  darkened  by  the 
shadow  of  evil  which  so  easily  overclouds  it.  Has 
any  of  us  some  trouble  or  care  which  we  hardly 
like  to  impart  to  others  ?   are  we  weary  and  disap- 


III.]  FORMATION  OF  CHARACTER  39 

pointed  ?  does  the  effort  of  study  at  times  seem 
too  much  for  us  ? — Let  us  cast  our  cares  upon 
Him,  for  He  cares  for  us ;  let  us  keep  our  minds 
above  our  bodies,  and  be  at  rest.  Is  a  young  man 
negligent  about  his  health,  irregular  in  his  hours, 
self-indulgent  in  eating  and  drinking,  overstraining 
himself  in  body  or  in  mind  ? — Let  him  be  aware 
that  for  all  these  things  he  will  have  to  pay  a  heavy 
reckoning  in  years  to  come.  Has  he  fallen  into  debt 
or  into  some  other  shame  or  folly,  and  does  he  make 
the  evil  worse  by  concealing  it? — Let  him  reflect 
that  the  errors  of  young  men,  however  serious,  are 
not  fatal,  and  only  become  irretrievable  when  they 
persist  in  them  :  in  money  difficulties  especially  let 
him  not  be  afraid  to  seek  the  help  and  experience 
of  some  older  person. 

Lastly,  it  is  natural  that  we  should  seek  to  do  one 
another  some  good, — that  is  a  common  form  of 
friendship ;  and  no  doubt  there  are  times  when  we 
all  of  us  need  the  advice  and  sympathy  of  others. 
To  many  a  few  words  of  an  equal  uttered  as  if  by 
chance  have  been  of  inestimable  value ;  they  have 
brought  before  them  what  they  always  knew,  but 
have  forgotten  ;  they  have  made  them  understand 
how  they  were  regarded  by  the  eyes  of  one  another 
and  of  the  world.  But  neither  in  youth  nor  in  later 
life  are  we  allowed  to  go  about  obtruding  advice 
upon  others :  the  best  influence  is  that  which  is 
never    seen    except   by   its   effects  ;   which   is   based 


40  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

not  upon  the  love  of  power,  but  upon  affection  and 
a  sense  of  duty,  which  is  reserved  and  never  betrays 
the  confidence  of  another.  The  weakest  characters 
have  often  a  passing  desire  to  do  good  to  their 
fellow-men,  perhaps  even  to  warn  them  against 
the  weakness  or  vice  which  they  have  allowed  in 
themselves.  But  the  good  which  men  can  do  to 
others  is  chiefly  limited  by  what  they  are :  example 
is  better  than  precept.  Kindness  is  perhaps  the 
easiest  way  of  doing  good,  and  the  safest ;  a  friendly 
look,  a  hearty  greeting,  an  unfeigned  interest  in 
the  pursuits  and  successes  of  our  companions.  We 
must  be  able  to  forget  ourselves  before  we  can 
expect  to  have  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  others. 


IV 


1   EXCEPT    THE   LORD   BUILD    THE   HOUSE,    THEIR 
LABOUR    IS   BUT   VAIN    THAT  BUILD  IT. 

Psalm  cxxvii.  i. 

The  Psalmist  expresses  with  a  fervour  and  power, 
greater  perhaps  than  has  ever  been  felt  or  found 
utterance  in  any  other  age  or  country,  the  longing 
of  the  soul  after  God  and  the  desire  to  live  always 
in  His  presence.  All  that  is  good  upon  earth  is  His 
work ;  men  only  succeed  in  proportion  as  they  obtain 
His  favour;  the  best  of  them  is  that  they  are  His 
servants.  They  have  a  feeling  of  repose  and  security 
when  they  meditate  upon  Him  ;  they  are  raised  above 
the  accidents  of  this  life  when  they  are  able  to  say, 
'  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  refuge  from  generation 
to  generation.'  The  law  of  God  (not  the  five  books 
of  Moses,  for  they  were  not  as  yet  collected),  but  the 
ideal  of  law,  the  highest  truth  and  rule  of  life  which 
he  was  capable  of  conceiving,  was  to  the  Israelite 
what  the  idea  of  good  or  beauty  was  to  the  Greek 

^  Preached  at  Balliol  in  October,  1870;  the  Master's  first 
sermon  after  his  election.  The  re-building  of  the  college 
was  then  in  progress. 


42  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iV. 

philosopher.  Perhaps  they  neither  of  them  exactly 
knew  what  they  meant, — for  such  thoughts  cannot 
easily  be  defined, — but  they  meant  something  purer 
and  higher  and  holier  than  they  found  in  themselves  ; 
they  were  trying  to  rise  out  of  themselves  that  they 
might  rest  in  God  and  the  truth.  By  the  help  of 
their  God  the  Israelites  of  old  seemed  able  to  do 
everything,  without  Him  nothing.  The  victory  in 
battle  was  only  given  them  because  the  Lord  fought 
for  them  :  they  were  only  safe  while  He  was  watching 
over  them.  '  As  the  hills  stand  about  Jerusalem,  so 
standeth  the  Lord  about  them  that  fear  Him.'  In 
the  darkness  of  the  night,  on  the  great  waters,  in 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  '  I  will  fear  no 
evil,  for  Thou,  Lord,  art  with  me.'  These  and  the 
like  words  will  probably  remain  the  most  natural  ex- 
pressions of  religious  feeling  as  long  as  the  world 
lasts.  And  at  them,  as  at  some  distant  light  or  fire, 
we  seek  to  rekindle  the  flame  of  Divine  love  in  our 
hearts. 

Yet  I  think  we  must  remark  that  this  language  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  liable  to  be  a  source  of  error, 
if  used  altogether  without  reflection.  The  religious 
ideas  of  one  age  require  to  be  translated  into  the 
religious  ideas  of  another.  The  religious  thoughts  of 
one  age  may  become  the  feelings  of  another ;  the 
religious  truth  of  one  age  may  become  the  religious 
poetr}^  of  another.  The  language  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  personal  and  individual,  speaking  heart  to 


IV.]  OLD   TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS  43 

heart  as  one  man  speaks  to  another,  telling  of  a  God 
who  is  indeed  alwa3^s  described  by  the  Psalmist  or 
Prophet  as  the  God  of  justice  and  of  truth,  ami  yet 
asserts  His  despotic  power  to  pull  down  one  man  and 
put  up  another.  And  here  the  error  of  which  I  was 
speaking  is  liable  to  creep  in.  For  some  of  this  lan- 
guage might  lead  us  to  suppose  that  God,  like  men, 
has  His  favourites,  that  He  prefers  one  man  or  one 
nation  to  another,  that  He  encourages  one  under- 
taking and  throws  difficulties  in  the  way  of  another. 
Ages  upon  ages  pass  away  before  men  attain  even 
to  that  degree  of  clearness  in  their  ideas  of  God  of 
which  the  human  mind  is  really  capable.  And  I  think 
that  we  must  recognize  that  the  Hebrew  Prophets  and 
Psalmists  do  present  to  us  an  imperfect  and  partial 
conception  of  the  Divine  Nature  compared  with  that 
which  our  own  hearts  and  consciences,  enlightened  by 
Christianity  and  the  study  of  history  and  nature,  give 
us  in  the  present  day.  There  must  be  a  silent  cor- 
rection of  the  familiar  words  of  the  Psalmist  when  we 
use  them,  if  they  are  to  express  the  truth  for  us.  For 
we  know  that  God  is  not  sitting,  as  He  is  represented 
in  some  pictures,  on  the  circle  of  the  heavens,  but  that 
His  temple  is  the  heart  of  man ;  we  know  that  He  is 
not  the  God  of  one  nation  only,  but  of  all  mankind ; 
we  know  that  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves. 
Except  men  build  the  house,  the  Lord  will  not  build 
it;  except  the  watchmen  keep  guard  in  the  city,  the 
Lord  will  not  guard  i^.     In  everything  the  means  are 


\ 


44  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

to  be  taken  first,  the  laws  of  nature  are  to  be  studied 
and  consulted  : — then,  and  only  then,  the  blessing  of 
God  follows  us,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Psalmist, 
'  the  Lord  prospers  our  handiwork.' 

But  then  a  very  natural  question  may  be  asked : — 
How  does  this  higher  work  differ  from  the  results  of 
ordinary  human  prudence  ?  If  I  have  made  careful 
preparations,  if  I  have  military  genius,  if  I  have  the 
material  means,  shall  I  not  win  the  battle,  accomplish 
the  enterprise,  whether  (to  speak  very  bluntly)  God 
wills  or  no  ?  The  answer  to  this  is  that  the  best  part 
of  human  actions  is  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  per- 
formed ;  the  spirit  which  bears  witness  with  His  spirit 
and  unites  us  to  Him.  And,  secondly,  the  highest 
use  of  the  means  involves  the  recognition  of  the  end  : 
in  poHtics,  for  example,  of  some  final  triumph  of 
righteousness  which  by  gradual  steps  we  hope  to 
approach  more  nearly,  of  some  increased  diffusion  of 
enlightenment  or  happiness  which  we  know  to  be  the 
will  of  God.  There  is  no  presence  of  God  in  the 
higher  sense  in  the  operations  of  war  or  business,  in 
the  skill  of  the  engineer,  in  the  art  of  the  painter,  in 
the  trivial  round  of  life,  any  more  than  in  the  greater 
aims  of  earthly  ambition.  But  when  in  war  or  busi- 
ness, or  the  fulfilment  of  their  daily  duties,  say  in  this 
University  or  college,  men  begin  to  be  animated  by 
higher  motives,  and  feel  that  they  are  living,  not  for 
themselves  or  for  their  own  individual  good,  but  for 
others,  working  together  for  God  and  His  laws,  then 


IV.]        GOD'S  PRESENCE  IN  HUMAN  LIFE        45 

they  may  think  of  God  building  the  house,  of  God 
keeping  the  city.  When  they  have  acted  as  if  all 
depended  on  themselves,  they  may  feel  that  every- 
thing depends  on  God  and  returns  to  Him.  Not  '  cast 
thyself  down  hence,  for  He  shall  give  His  angels 
charge  over  thee,'  but  take  regular  steps,  use  every 
precaution,— in  that  be  like  '  the  children  of  this 
world ' ; — there  is  a  sort  of  impiety  in  asking  for  any- 
thing which  we  do  not  take  the  means  to  attain, — 
and  then  leave  the  event  to  Him ;  partly  because 
every  event  and  every  work  has  another  and  another 
beyond,  so  that  we  can  never  be  left  hopeless  if  we 
fix  our  minds  on  the  true  good  of  man,  and  partly 
because,  although  God  governs  the  world  by  fixed 
laws.  He  takes  care  of  us  as  a  whole,  and  His  care 
and  order  begin  in  this  life  and  continue  in  another. 

The  Old  Testament  speaks  of  the  Lord  building 
the  house ;  the  New  Testament  speaks  of  that  temple 
which  we  ourselves  are, — of  which,  in  the  figurative 
language  of  St.  Paul,  we  are  said  to  be  lively  stones, — 
that  temple  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  up  His 
abode,  w^hich  is  defiled  by  sin  and  evil,  as  the  courts  of 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  were  by  ceremonial  impurity 
and  pollution.  Every  place  or  nation  or  institution 
or  individual  may  be  described  as  a  heavenly  city,  an 
ideal  state,  and  on  such  a  form  of  life  we  may  en- 
deavour to  fix  our  eyes,  though  we  know  that  human 
nature  does  not  admit  of  these  ideals  in  fact, — we 
can   only   approach    them.     Even    this   college   may 


46  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

be  thought  of  without  extravagance  as  a  place  in 
which  we  desire  to  have  the  presence  of  God,  who  is 
dweUing  here  more  or  less  in  proportion  as  a  spirit 
of  right  and  truth,  of  gentleness  and  kindness,  prevails 
amongst  us.  And  in  looking  back  on  its  past  history 
we  may  without  extravagance  have  the  feeling  that 
'it  grew  up  we  cannot  tell  how,'  because  God  has 
prospered  us,  and  in  the  thought  of  the  future  as  well 
as  in  the  past, '  Except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  their 
labour  is  but  vain  that  build  it.' 

Of  this  college,  which  is  the  external  bond  of  union 
between  most  of  us  who  are  met  together  in  this 
chapel  to-day,  I  should  like  to  say  a  few  words  to 
you  just  as  they  occur  to  me  regarding  the  institution 
to  which  some  of  us  are  so  deeply  attached,  first,  as 
a  place  of  education ;  secondly,  as  a  place  of  society ; 
thirdly,  as  a  place  of  religion. 

First,  I  am  not  going  to  draw  out  theories  of  educa- 
tion,— there  is  no  time  for  that, — but  I  want  to  impress 
upon  you  first  of  all  the  unspeakable  importance  of 
the  four  years  which  are  spent  in  the  regular  course 
of  this  place,  the  four  critical  years  of  life  between 
about  eighteen  and  twenty-two,  in  which  we  pass 
from  youth  to  manhood,  when  a  young  man  is  first 
beginning  to  be  his  own  master,  and  becomes  far 
more  responsible  to  himself  than  he  is  to  any  one  else. 
He  has  to  improve  his  mind,  to  eradicate  bad  mental 
habits,  to  acquire  the  power  of  order  and  arrange- 
ment, to  learn  the  art  of  fixing  his  attention,  to  con- 


IV.]      VALUE  OF  UNDERGRADUATE  YEARS      47 

centrate  all  his  powers  upon  his  work.  In  a  certain 
sense  he  has  to  think  about  himself;  to  observe  his 
own  defects,  whether  of  memory,  or  logical  power,  or 
accuracy,  or  good  taste,  which  is  also  a  want  of 
logical  power.  And  sometimes  he  may  note  in  himself 
peculiarities  which  distinguish  him  from  others  (and, 
indeed,  we  are  all  inclined  to  think  ourselves  much 
more  exceptional  beings  than  we  really  are).  But 
there  may  be  also  real  peculiarities,  such  as  weakness 
of  health,  or  over-sensitiveness,  or  mental  trial,  and 
then  a  man  must  find  out  the  way  of  curing  him- 
self; he  must  be  his  own  tutor  and  his  own  physician, 
not  without  the  thought  of  a  Good  Physician,  by 
whose  help  he  may  even  turn  the  trials  of  the  body 
into  blessings  for  the  soul.  And  above  all  he  must 
not  give  up  the  race  of  life ;  for  there  have  been 
many  of  these  '  broken  lives '  of  men  who  seemed  as 
if  they  would  never  again  be  able  to  do  anything, 
from  whom  the  greatest  benefits  have  flowed  to  man- 
kind and  to  knowledge.  But  these  are  exceptional 
cases,  of  which  I  speak  only  by  the  way;  the  great 
majority  of  us  enjoy  excellent  health,  and  have  no 
excuse  for  not  making  the  very  best  use  of  our  time. 
Still  to  all  of  us  at  times  there  is  a  good  deal  of  trial 
in  intellectual  pursuits ;  we  find  that  success  does  not 
attend  us ;  we  cannot  read,  we  cannot  write ;  our 
minds  seem  vacant,  feeble,  inattentive,  and  we  are 
sometimes  tempted  to  supply  the  temporary  failure 
of  our  powers  by  an  extraordinary  and  unwonted 


48  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

effort.  This  is  about  as  rational  as  if  a  paralytic 
were  to  attempt  to  regain  the  use  of  his  Hmbs  by 
performing  some  great  feat  of  strength.  A\Tiat  we 
want  is  rest ;  and  it  is  well  that  we  should  understand 
this,  at  the  same  time  maintaining  our  permanent 
resolve,  and  not  allowing  a  temp>oran,"  weakness  to 
become  an  excuse  for  irregularity  and  idleness,  or 
to  disorder  the  scheme  of  our  hves.  And  so,  little 
by  httle,  day  by  day,  sometimes  with  considerable 
gaps  and  interruptions,  we  go  on  accumulating  know- 
ledge. The  additions  each  day  which  build  up  the 
mind  may  be  slow  and  small,  but  at  the  end  the  result 
is  ver\'  great.  WTiether  we  are  really  fit  for  a  pro- 
fession, for  a  place  in  the  world,  depends  mainly  on 
the  use  which  we  have  made  of  our  years  here.  I  do 
not  say  that  the  loss  of  them  is  irreparable,  or  that 
some  men  who  have  wasted  and  idled  their  time 
here  have  not  recovered  themselves  in  after-life.  But 
I  think  we  may  say  -without  exaggeration  that  there 
are  no  years  of  equal  importance,  and  that  we  shall 
never  have  such  another  start  or  beginning  in  hfe,  in 
which  old  things  (including  the  recollection  of  our 
faults  and  follies  of  youth j  pass  away  and  all  things 
become  new. 

The  s^'stem  of  education  in  this  place  is,  as  you 
know,  ver\-  much  based  upon  University-  Honours. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  introduction  of  them 
at  the  beginning  of  this  century  breathed  new  hfe 
into  the  dr\'  bones  of  the  past.     They  give  us  a  fixed 


IV.]  READING  FOR  HONOURS  49 

aim  towards  which  to  direct  our  efforts  ;  they  stimu- 
late us  by  the  love  of  honourable  distinction ;  they 
afford  an  opportunity  of  becoming  known  to  those 
who  might  not  otherwise  emerge  ;  they  supply  the 
leading  strings  which  we  also  need.  And  therefore 
I  cannot  join  in  the  complaints  of  those  laudafofrs 
teyupoiis  adi\  who  complain  that  they  tend  to  narrow- 
ness and  superficiality ;  telling  us,  as  they  are  fond  of 
saying,  that  there  were  a  few  deep  pools  formerly, 
and  that  now  there  are  many  shallow  streams.  But 
still  in  readinor  for  Honours  everv'  one  should  under- 
stand  that  the  value  of  them,  the  love  of  them,  may 
be  carried  too  far.  They  do  not  7fiake  us  what  we 
are  ;  the}'  are  but  the  sfa^rp  of  what  we  are,  which 
ma}"  be  sometimes  '\\Tongly  imposed.  And  the  mere 
reading  for  Honours  instead  of  reading  for  the  sake 
of  knowledge  and  mental  improvement — things  more 
precious  far — is  certainly  rather  degrading.  Those 
who  desire  that  knowledge  should  be  pursued  in 
a  liberal  way  and  for  its  own  sake  are  not  \\Tong  in 
that  ;  but  they  are  wrong  in  supposing  in  this,  as  in 
so  many  odier  cases,  that  either  freedom  or  power 
can  be  attained  without  order  and  reonilaritv  and 
method.  The  restless,  sceptical,  aesthetical  habit  of 
mind,  which  passes  at  will  trom  one  \'iew  of  a  subject 
or  from  one  kind  of  knowledge  to  another,  is  not 
intellectual  power.  There  is  no  real  opposition 
between  ability  and  industry.  Different  men  work 
in  different  ways,  but  the  greatest   ability  is  almost 

E 


50  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

always  also  the  greatest  industry.  I  fully  acknow- 
ledg-e  that  University  Honours  are  a  test  of  a  peculiar 
kind.  And  I  would  wish  to  draw  the  attention  of 
those  who  are  about  shortly  to  leave  us  to  this  point, — 
that  the  competition  of  after-life  will  be  very  different 
from  that  of  a  University  :  then  there  will  be  no  more 
leading  strings,  but  they  will  have  to  grapple  with 
life  and  with  the  world.  They  will  be  by  themselves, 
no  longer  sustained  by  a  society  ready  made  for  them  ; 
they  will  have  to  do  with  men  as  well  as  books  ;  they 
will  depend  more  on  the  force  of  character  which  they 
have  or  can  acquire,  and  less  on  merely  intellectual 
qualities.  The  end  may  be  a  long  way  off,  and  only 
to  be  attained  in  any  degree  after  the  obscure  labours 
of  many  years.  Here  is  certainly  a  very  different 
test  of  the  ability  of  men  starting  in  life.  There  is 
probably  no  greater  discipline  than  this  if  a  man  takes 
the  long  years  of  waiting  in  a  right  spirit.  And 
sometimes  he  may  think  to  himself  of  that  higher 
race,  which  extends  over  the  whole  of  life,  to  which 
no  earthly  honours  are  assigned,  and  of  which,  in  the 
figurative  language  of  Lord  Bacon,  '  God  only  and 
the  angels  are  spectators.' 

But  beside  our  duties  to  ourselves,  there  are  duties 
which  we  owe  to  our  neighbours.  It  is  characteristic 
of  the  English  Universities  more  than  of  any  other 
similar  institutions,  that  they  are  not  merely  places  of 
education,  but  places  of  society.  Or  taking  the  word 
in  a  wider  sense,  society  may  be  said  to  be  a  great 


IV.]  COLLEGE  SOCIETY  51 

part   of  education.     There    are    several   respects   in 
which  the  society  of  a  college  differs  from  any  other. 
First,   because   such   a   society   is    composed   almost 
entirely  of  young  men   in  whom   the   pulse   of  life 
beats  high  ; — they  are  full  of  hopes  and  have  compara- 
tively little  experience.    Secondly,  because  the  members 
of  a  college  are  always  together,  engaged  in  the  same 
pursuits,  attending  the   same  lectures,  interested  for 
the  most  part  in  the  same  topics.     Hence  the  con- 
nexion between  them  is  very  close,  and  they  have  great 
opportunities  of  intimacy.     They  are  like  a  family, 
and  may  be  truly  said  to  be  every  one  members  one 
of  another.     They  exercise   a  greater   influence   on 
one   another   than   friends   and   acquaintances  do   at 
another  time   of  life.     Thirdly,  they  come  from   all 
corners  and  places,  from  different  religious  bodies, — 
as  we  may  now  say  with  pride  and  pleasure, — from 
various  parts  of  the  world,  from  different  ranks  of 
society,  many  almost  finding  their  first  introduction 
to  life  in  their  entrance  here  :    to  some  the  gaining 
of  a  Scholarship  or  of  a  Fellowship  has  been  the  real 
turning-point    of  their    career.      There    is   no   such 
common  landing-place  at  which  all  classes  meet  in 
later  years.     I  do  not  look  upon  the  distinctions  of 
ranks  in  society  as  the  appointment  of  God  ;  but  they 
are  facts  which  in  the  present  state  of  the  world  no 
sensible  man  will  desire  to  overlook.     They  are  often 
regarded  with  jealousy ;  the  sensitive  mind  of  Pascal 
was  disposed  to  complain  bitterly  that  to  be  a  man 

£  2 


52  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

of  rank  is  twenty  years  of  life  gained  ;  but  the  truth 
is  that  they  are  easily  overmatched  by  personal  quali- 
ties. There  is  something-  that  one  rank  may  always 
learn  from  another  ;  and  no  one  can  be  said  to  have 
any  real  or  complete  knowledge  of  the  world,  if  it  be 
confined  only  to  his  own  clique.  Those  who  have 
not  the  advantages  of  position  or  fortune  should  not 
be  sensitive  about  them  ;  for  they  are  not  really  so 
important  as  they  appear.  Those  who  have  them 
should  regard  them  as  trifles,  of  which  they  never 
think  for  a  moment  themselves  and  which  they  never 
obtrude  upon  others.  And  they  will  find  their  reward 
in  not  belonging  to  one  class  only  but  to  all,  which  is 
higher  and  nobler  far,  taking  a  real  human  interest, 
not  in  one  set  of  persons  only,  but  in  all,  not  confined 
to  the  narrow,  threadbare  topics,  about  individuals, 
about  amusements,  and  the  like,  but  freely  able  to 
talk  with  all,  finding  the  natural  sympathy  which 
unites  them  to  be  stronger  than  the  accidents  which 
separate  them.  A  distinguished  friend  of  mine,  looking 
back  upon  the  years  when  he  and  I  first  entered  the 
University,  has  often  said  to  me,  '  That  there  was  no 
place  at  which  a  stranger  was  more  generously  received 
than  by  young  men  at  Oxford.'  May  that  long  con- 
tinue to  be  the  spirit  of  the  whole  place,  and  of 
this  college  in  particular,  the  spirit  of  true  courtesy 
and  gendemanly  feeling,  which  gladly  welcomes  all 
and  seeks  to  make  them  at  home  under  their  new 
circumstances. 


IV.]  COLLEGE   UNITY  53 

For,  indeed,  a  society  which  is  divided  into  cliques 
and  parties  and  factions  and  marked  by  invidious 
distinctions,  which  is  unable  to  join  or  succeed  in 
any  common  pursuit  or  amusement,  is  not  a  society ; 
it  has  lost  all  the  advantages  of  union.  There  is 
a  duty  in  the  fulfilment  of  which  a  great  deal  of  good 
may  often  silently  be  done,  which,  though  a  great 
Christian  duty,  is  sometimes  described  by  a  homely 
phrase,  '  the  duty  of  keeping  men  together.'  Not 
that  we  can  force  into  a  constrained  harmony  abso- 
lutely dissimilar  elements :  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
social  matters,  some  tact  must  be  shown.  And  there 
are  a  few  happy  natures  who  are  a  sort  of  interme- 
diates to  the  rest  of  the  world,  who  make  all  men 
kin  and  at  home  when  they  meet  in  their  presence. 
There  are  also  some  other  qualities  which  are  required 
in  a  society.  We  seem  to  need  self-respect,  which  is 
also  the  true  respect  of  others,  not  that  fooHsh  con- 
sciousness of  self  which  cannot  bear  the  ordinary 
interchange  of  jest  and  earnest  in  conversation,  but 
that  doing  and  saying  nothing  which  you  would  not 
like  that  others  should  do  or  say  to  you.  There  is 
a  sense  of  security  which  you  have  with  people  when 
you  know  that  from  some  inbred  courtesy  they  never 
by  any  possibihty  could  say  anything  which  would 
wound  the  feelings  of  another.  Lastly,  I  need  hardly 
tell  you  that  violence  and  noise  and  practical  joking,  or 
any  invasion  of  the  peace  of  our  neighbours,  do  really 
tend  (however  excusable  and  innocent  in  the  riot  of 


54  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

youthful  spirits),  do  really  tend  to  degrade  the  character 
of  a  society  (just  like  vulgarity  or  bad  manners  of  any 
sort)  far  beyond  their  moral  guilt.  And  we  think 
that  a  college  may  be  expected  to  present  the  type 
of  a  Christian  institution,  in  which  men  are  not  merely 
admired  for  their  strength  of  body  or  their  force  of 
mind  and  character,  but  some  consideration  may  be 
shown  for  the  weaker  brethren  also. 

Thirdly,  I  should  like  to  say  a  few  words  about 
a  college  as  a  place  of  religion.  There  is  the  same 
sort  of  difference  in  this  as  in  the  last  case, — that 
persons  of  more  different  opinions  meet  together  here 
than  probably  in  any  other  situation  in  life:  and 
perhaps  here,  too,  we  may  find  that  the  ties  which  unite 
us  are  greater  than  the  oppositions  which  separate  us. 
Those  who  are  present  here  probably  come  from 
families  who  have  the  most  various  sentiments,  and 
there  are  some  who  have  never  heard  a  word  of  doubt 
cast  upon  their  family  or  traditional  belief  What  can 
we  do  for  them,  and  what  can  they  do  for  themselves, 
and  how  can  we  pilot  them  safely  over  the  difficulties 
which  may  begin  to  surround  them  ?  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  these  differences  are  unimportant,  or  that 
they  have  not  great  influence  on  nations  and  on 
Churches.  But  in  this  place  may  we  not  find  the 
practical  solution  of  them  in  a  common  work  ?  may 
we  not  turn  from  the  points  of  difference  which  are 
less  to  the  points  of  agreement  which  are  greater  far  ? 
For,  admitting  that  we   are   disagreed   about   many 


IV.]  COLLEGE  RELIGION  55 

questions  of  doctrine  and  many  historical  facts,  includ- 
ing the  great  question  of  miracles,  are  we  not  agreed 
about  the  first  principles  of  truth  and  right,  about 
the  nature  of  God,  about  a  future  life,  about  the 
teaching  of  Christ  ?  Have  we  not  enough  in  common 
to  carry  on  the  war  against  evil  ?  The  question  that 
a  young  man  has  really  to  answer  is  not  '  What  is 
the  true  doctrine  of  the  Sacrament,'  but  how  he  shall 
make  the  best  use  of  his  time,  how  he  shall  order  his 
expenses,  how  he  shall  control  his  passions  (that  they 
may  not,  like  harpies,  be  pursuing  him  all  through 
life),  how  he  can  live  to  God  and  the  truth  instead  of 
living  to  pleasure  and  to  himself.  Can  we  not  find 
a  common  ground  in  the  needs  which  we  all  feel.** 
And  in  the  meantime,  if  we  wish  to  carry  this  out, 
we  must  abstain  from  personality  and  bitterness 
which  so  easily  slip  out  when  religious  zeal  is 
strong.  We  must  exercise  some  reticence  (and 
indeed  we  can  easily  find  better  topics  of  conversa-, 
tion  than  religious  controversy),  if  we  mean  to  live  at 
peace  with  all  mankind.  '  Behold,  how  good  and  joyful 
a  thing  it  is,  brethren,  to  dwell  together  in  unity ! ' 

We  have  been  engaged  during  the  last  three  years 
in  building  up  the  college  from  without,  and  we  hope 
that  the  work  which  is  now  nearly  completed  may 
contribute  to  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  many 
generations.  We  are  certainly  better  off  than  our 
predecessors  ever  were  in  the  external  appliances  of 
study,  which  will  soon  be  carried  about  as  far  as  it 


56  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [iv. 

seems  possible  to  carry  them.  Truly  when  we  look 
at  the  beauty  of  this  University,  its  ancient  buildings, 
its  libraries,  its  gardens,  we  have  reason  to  feel  that 
'  our  lot  has  been  cast  in  pleasant  places.'  Our  cir- 
cumstances seem  to  be  the  very  opposite  of  those  in 
which  the  student  of  the  Middle  Ages  sometimes 
found  himself,  when  from  the  cold  of  winter  he  was 
obliged  to  intermit  his  daily  task  carried  on  in  the 
open  cloister,  or  on  the  steps  of  the  neighbouring 
convent.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  have  every  comfort ; 
perhaps  the  path  of  life  is  made  rather  too  easy  to 
some  of  us.  The  difficulties  that  stand  in  our  way 
are  mostly  of  our  own  making — want  of  energy  or 
principle  in  ourselves.  These  very  comforts  which 
we  enjoy  in  this  place  should  be  motives  to  a  higher 
way  of  life,  partly  out  of  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of 
them,  partly  from  a  fear  that  we  may  become  too 
dependent  on  them  and  unequal  to  the  rougher 
struggle  of  life  which  we  may  hereafter  have  to 
endure  in  the  care  of  a  parish  or  in  the  effort  to  enter 
a  profession.  To  have  escaped  the  trials  of  poverty 
in  early  life  may  either  make  us  more  or  less  fit  to 
meet  them  if  ever  they  actually  come  upon  us.  It 
was  a  wise  saying  of  a  great  man,  '  that  only  by  living 
above  the  goods  of  fortune  can  you  have  the  true  use 
of  them.'  For  all  that  men  have  is  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  what  they  are  themselves.  Even  the 
world  itself  is  upon  the  whole  ready  to  acknowledge 
the  truth  of  this. 


IV.]  RENEWAL   OF  THE   COLLEGE  57 

We  desire  to  be  a  united  society,  amid  many  differ- 
ences of  temperament  and  character  and  opinions, 
animated  by  a  common  esprit  de  corps ^  and  bound  to 
each  other  by  the  interest  of  the  work  in  which  we 
are  engaged  ;  rejoicing  heartily  every  one  of  us  in  the 
success  and  prosperity  of  all  our  members,  both  here 
and  elsewhere,  and  avoiding  the  misunderstandings 
and  causes  of  offence  which  so  easily  arise  among 
those  whose  daily  life  is  passed  almost  in  common. 
This  college,  as  I  have  already  told  you,  after  more 
than  two  centuries  of  obscurity  and  decay  seems  to 
have  revived  about  eighty  years  ago ;  it  grew  up  we 
can  hardly  tell  how, — through  the  care  and  labour  of 
some  who  have  now  entered  into  their  rest,  with  the 
help  of  some  fortunate  accidents,  by  the  blessing  of 
God.  And  now  the  duty  of  maintaining  it  has 
descended  to  us,  and  we  must  not  neglect  the  trust 
which  has  been  committed  to  us.  Every  one  must 
bear  his  part  in  improving  its  methods  of  study  and 
teaching,  in  raising  the  tone  of  society,  in  infusing  life 
and  intelligence  and  energy  into  every  part  of  it.  So 
we  may  hope  to  be  able  to  hand  on  the  lamp  to 
another  generation.  And  looking  forward  to  the 
future,  we  pray  that  this  college  may  continue  to 
grow  and  increase,  not  merely  in  the  \ailgar  sense  of 
success,  but  in  a  higher  one, — that  it  may  be  the 
nursery  of  Christian  and  noble  thoughts  which  have 
in  them  some  seeds  of  human  improvement,  to  which 
eminent  men  may  look  back  as  the  cherished  home 


58  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

of  their  early  days,  in  which  those  who  are  returning" 
from  distant  lands,  India  or  the  Colonies,  or  who 
from  any  cause  are  friendless  or  isolated,  may  receive 
a  welcome ;  and  that  those  who  are  present  here 
to-day  may  recognize  that  in  this  place  something 
of  value  was  contributed  to  the  formation  of  their 
character  and  their  usefulness  in  after-life. 


V 


1  WHEN   THE  SON  OF  MAN  COMETH,  SHALL  HE  FIND 
FAITH    ON    THE   EARTH? 

Luke  xviii.  8. 

In  many  ages  of  the  Christian  Church  men  have 
entertained  an  expectation  that  Christ  was  shortly 
about  to  reappear  on  the  earth.  And  some  of  the 
words  of  our  Lord  Himself  seem  to  favour  the  expec- 
tation, as  for  example  His  saying,  'There  be  some 
here  who  shall  not  taste  death  until  they  see  the  king- 
dom of  God  come  with  power ' ;  or,  '  This  genera- 
tion shall  not  pass  away  until  all  these  things  be 
fulfilled  ; '  while  in  other  passages  He  refuses  to  speak 
of  the  '  times  and  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath  put 
in  His  own  power.'  From  a  verse  in  the  first  Epistle 
of  the  Thessalonians,  '  Then  we  which  are  alive  shall 
be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,'  we  gather 
that  St.  Paul  had  a  similar  belief,  although  at  a  later 
period   he   desired   rather   to   '  depart   and    be   with 

^  This  sermon  was  preached  at  St.  Mary's,  the  University 
Church,  on  November  26,  1871.  This  being  the  first  time 
that  the  Master  preached  in  his  turn  as  Head  of  his  College, 
the  sermon  attracted  special  attention,  and  was  looked  on  as 
to  some  extent  defining  his  position. 


6o  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

Christ.'  And  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era  the  same  expectation  was  widely  spread,  some 
affirming  that  Christ  would  reign  for  a  thousand 
years ;  others  again  imagining  that  His  re- appearance 
was  delayed  a  little  while  ;  others  again  saying,  as 
we  might  do,  '  Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming  ? 
for  since  the  fathers  have  fallen  asleep  all  things  have 
remained  as  they  were  from  the  beginning.' 

In  times  of  rehgious  excitement  or  under  the 
pressure  of  great  and  overwhelming  calamities,  the 
belief  in  the  second  coming  of  Christ  has  tended  to 
revive,  and  many  have  fancied  that  they  saw  the 
sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds.  Such 
a  belief  prevailed  in  one  of  the  most  miserable  periods 
of  human  history,  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century, 
when,  as  the  great  Catholic  historian,  writing  of  that 
time,  says,  '  Christ  was  still  in  the  ship,  but  asleep.' 
For  there  have  been  cruel  days  in  the  history  of  the 
world ;  far  worse  formerly  than  any  which  occur 
now,  worse  even  than  those  which  we  have  witnessed 
during  the  last  year  or  two^,  because  more  enduring 
and  hopeless.  These  naturally  led  men  to  say, 
'  O  Lord,  how  long } '  And  even  in  our  own  times, 
we  have  known  persons  or  societies  among  whom 
the  shadow  of  the  ancient  belief  still  survived,  who 
from  some  peculiarity  of  character,  and  on  some 
ground    probably   derived   from    Scripture,   such   as 

^  During  the  Franco- German  War  and  the  possession  of 
Paris  by  the  Communards. 


v.]         MISTAKEN  DIRECTIONS   OF  FAITH         6i 

the  mention  of  1260  years  in  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion, have  fixed  a  certain  year  or  day  at  which  the 
great  change  was  to  occur.  But  they  one  by  one 
have  dropped  off  and  gone  to  their  rest;  their 
opinions  have  passed  away  with  them.  Men  have 
learned  that  '  not  here,  not  there,  or  to  mortal  eye 
was  the  vision  of  Christ  to  be  revealed.' 

This  belief  in  Millenarianism  was  condemned  as 
'  a  Jewish  dotage '  in  one  of  the  original  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England,  published  by  King  Edward  VI. 
And,  although  we  may  be  thankful  that  the  number 
of  the  Articles  was  reduced  from  forty-two  to  thirty- 
nine,  yet  we  can  hardly  regard  this  opinion  which 
was  condemned  by  them  as  perfectly  allowable,  or 
as  wholly  free  from  evil  consequences.  For  when 
men  have  fancies  about  religion,  which  however 
natural  in  the  Primitive  Church  and  in  the  age  of 
the  Apostles  ought  to  have  been  refuted  long  ago 
by  universal  experience,  they  are  apt  to  lose  their 
hold  on  the  main  principles  of  Christian  truth.  The 
visions  in  which  they  indulge  have  an  absorbing 
effect  on  their  minds ;  they  lead  them  into  nonsense ; 
they  withdraw  them  from  their  fellow-men.  While 
they  are  looking  into  a  vacant  and  distant  heaven  for 
a  sign,  the  real  signs  of  the  times,  which  are  every- 
where around  them,  seem  to  escape  them.  For  we 
see  furthest  into  the  future— and  that  is  not  far — when 
we  most  carefully  consider  the  facts  of  the  present. 

And  therefore  I  shall  not  attempt  to  explain  what 


62  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

is  the  meaning-  of  Christ's  coming  again ;  '  whether 
in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body  we  cannot  tell.'  Nor 
shall  I  ask  the  question  which  was  put  to  Christ  by 
the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children,  whether  His  saints 
and  Apostles  shall  reign  with  Him,  sitting  upon 
thrones  and  judging  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth. 
These  are  questions  which  can  never  have  an  answer ; 
we  might  as  well  argue  about  poetry  or  figures  of 
speech.  There  is  a  deeper  meaning  in  the  words 
of  Christ  than  can  be  realized  by  mere  imagination, 
or  by  any  effort  of  the  painter's  art.  And  first 
I  shall  consider  what  is  the  feeling  with  which  this 
saying  was  uttered,  '  When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh, 
shall  He  find  faith  upon  the  earth  ? '  Many  persons 
may  scarcely  have  noticed  these  words,  or  may  not 
have  attempted  to  reconcile  them  with  their  previous 
conception  of  the  character  of  Christ.  Secondly, 
I  shall  inquire,  '  if  Jesus  Christ  were  to  come  again 
upon  the  earth,'  what  judgment  He  would  pass  upon 
us  and  upon  our  Hves,  and  how  He  would  apply  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel  to  modern  society.  That 
appears  to  be  a  natural  way  of  bringing  Christ 
home  to  ourselves.  And  thirdh',  I  shall  ask  'what 
indications  there  are  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
come  among  us,'  or  in  other  words,  what  reason  we 
have  for  thinking  that  the  condition  of  life  and  of 
mankind  ever  can  or  will  be  regenerated,  whether 
by  the  change  of  external  circumstances,  or  by  the 
agency  of  moral  or  spiritual  influences. 


v.]  DESPONDENCY  AND  HOPE  63 

We  easily  imagine  that  Christ  and  His  Apostles 
certainly  foreknew  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel ;  that 
they  had  no  griefs  or  disappointments,  no  pain  at 
the  ingratitude  or  hardheartedness  of  mankind.  But 
if  this  had  been  so  they  would  not  have  been  in  all 
points  '  tempted  Hke  as  we  are.'  The  preconception 
is  natural,  and  yet  is  not  supported  by  the  words  of 
Scripture.  There  we  see  Christ  like  some  great 
teacher  of  other  days,  like  the  prophet  Elijah  for 
example,  now  accepted,  now  rejected  of  men,  now 
seeming  to  feel  a  sort  of  inward  triumph — 'The 
hour  is  coming  that  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  glori- 
fied ' ;  and  yet  experiencing  at  the  last  a  depth  of 
darkness  and  desolation  to  which  no  sorrow  in  this 
world  can  be  compared — '  My  God,  My  God,  why 
hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ? '  He  had  come  into  the 
world  to  fulfil  His  Father's  will,  to  deliver  men  from 
evil,  to  reunite  them  to  God,  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  a  new  and  spiritual  kingdom.  And  multitudes  had 
beHeved  on  Him,  or  seemed  to  believe  on  Him,  but 
by  degrees  they  have  fallen  away,  after  the  chief 
priests  had  commanded  that  those  who  confessed 
Christ  should  be  put  out  of  the  Synagogue.  So 
St.  Paul,  w^alking  in  the  footsteps  of  his  Alaster,  in 
his  old  age  when  his  Hfe  of  missionary  labour  was 
drawing  to  a  close,  utters  the  sorrowful  words,  '  Thou 
knowest  that  all  they  of  Asia  be  turned  away  from 
me.'  And  we  cannot  be  wrong  in  supposing  that  at 
the  end  of  our  Lord's  life  the  number  of  His  followers 


64  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

was  much  fewer  than  a  year  or  two  previously;  for 
we  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  the  first 
Christians  meeting-  in  the  large  upper  room  at  Jeru- 
salem were  not  more  than  120.  The  opposition  had 
waxed  hotter  than  at  first ;  the  suspicions  of  the 
government  had  been  aroused.  And  many  who 
were  willing  enough  to  receive  the  first  impressions 
of  the  Gospel,  in  time  of  persecution  fell  away,  for 
they  had  no  depth  of  earth  in  their  natures ;  and  the 
new  sect  which  had  arisen  seemed  to  be  on  the  point 
of  being  stamped  out. 

Can  we  imagine  the  feelings  of  some  prophet  or 
great  religious  teacher  when  he  finds  the  world 
turning  against  him,  and  he  begins  to  understand 
the  difficulty  of  telling  men  what  is  at  variance  with 
their  old  prejudices  or  traditions?  He  does  not  lose 
faith  in  the  truth,  but  he  is  incHned  to  despair  of 
his  fellow-men.  There  are  such  enmities  to  be  over- 
come, such  misrepresentations  to  be  cleared  up,  such 
a  mass  of  obloquy  to  be  undergone,  and  he  without 
any  power  to  stem  the  rising  tide  of  ignorance  and 
fanaticism,  is  but  a  feeble  mortal  who  can  trust  only 
in  himself  and  God.  That  is  the  feeling  under  which 
the  prophet  Elijah  says,  '  It  is  enough,  now,  O  Lord ; 
take  away  my  life,  for  I  am  no  better  than  any  of 
my  fathers.'  He  has  no  personal  ambition,  but  he 
feels  the  want  of  other  men's  sympathy,  to  whom 
he  desires  to  do  good,  and  they  will  not ;  and  to 
whom  he  would  preach  the  truth  of  which  his  own 


v.]  A   PROPHET  IN  MODERN  TIMES  65 

mind  is  full,  but  they  will  not  hear  him — '  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,'  and 
'  Ye  will  not  come  unto  Me  that  ye  might  have  life.' 
And,  perhaps,  he  wonders  whether,  if  he  were  to 
leave  his  own  people  or  country,  and  come  again 
to  them,  like  the  Athenian  legislator,  they  would 
receive  him ;  if  the  prejudices  against  him  would 
have  worn  away,  or  if  he  would  still  be  the  object 
of  hatred  and  persecution.  And  still  loving  his 
brethren,  like  St.  Paul,  and  eager  that  they  should 
be  saved,  he  also  knows  that  the  difficulties  and  dis- 
appointments v/hich  have  hitherto  attended  him  may 
be  his  portion  to  the  end.  He  is  not  certain  that  his 
Gospel  will  ever  triumph ;  but  he  is  certain  that  it 
is  the  truth,  and  he  is  willing  that  his  own  name 
should  pass  away,  that  there  should  be  no  reaction 
or  compensation,  if  he  can  only  be  confident  that  he 
is  doing  the  will  of  God,  and  keeping  that  which  is 
entrusted  to  him.  As  his  mission  to  his  fellow- men 
appears  to  fail,  he  clings  more  and  more  to  the 
thought  of  God.  Somewhere,  he  cannot  tell  where, 
by  some  means,  he  cannot  tell  what,  he  believes  that 
the  ways  of  God  will  be  justified  to  man  ;  of  himself 
or  of  his  own  reward  he  never  thinks,  all  that  is 
absorbed  in  his  love  of  God.  Nor  even  in  the  depth 
of  his  agony  does  he  really  fear  that  he  can  be  cast 
out  by  him,  though  for  a  time  he  is  walking  in  the 
shadow  of  death.  There  have  been  struggles  in  men  s 
minds  greater  and  more  full  of  consequences  to  the 

F 


66  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

world  at  large  than  the  battles  of  the  earthly  warrior. 
The  capacities  of  the  human  soul  are  not  exhausted 
by  the  shallow  loves  and  fears,  or  hopes,  or  enmities 
of  ordinary  men.  There  have  been  a  few  who,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  the  Lord,  have  thought  of 
others  only  and  not  of  themselves,  of  the  future  as 
well  as  the  present,  and  who  have  rejoiced  and 
sorrowed,  not  for  their  own  good,  or  evil,  but  for 
the  good  and  evil  of  their  church  or  their  country, 
yea,  and  of  the  whole  human  race.  We  can  hardly 
enter  into  their  thoughts,  for  they  are  raised  above 
us ;  they  may  have  been  religious  teachers  burning 
with  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  or  they  may 
have  been  statesmen,  doubtful  perhaps  about  the 
present,  and  careless  of  party  and  personality,  seek- 
ing to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  true  national  pros- 
perity in  the  far  distant  future.  There  have  been 
but  a  few  such  in  any  age,  or  in  all  ages  of  the  world, 
but  from  them  have  been  derived  the  greatest  blessings 
to  individuals  and  churches  and  states.  For  in  any 
class,  and  in  any  occupation,  to  have  shown  a  higher 
type  of  character,  a  larger  sympathy,  a  stricter  sense 
of  duty,  a  deeper  insight,  is  an  inestimable  benefit  to 
mankind.  Even  good  men  are  apt  to  follow  the  ways 
of  their  companions  ;  they  do  as  others  do  and  do  not 
attempt  to  apply  the  words  or  example  of  Christ  to 
the  religious  society  in  which  they  live ;  a  few,  a  very 
few  think  for  themselves.  And  these  may  often  have 
trials  of  which  the  world   has  no  experience ;    it  is 


v.]  CHRIST'S  SORROWS  AND  HOPES  67 

a  strang-er  to  their  hopes  and  aspirations ;  it  cannot 
understand  that  they  should  be  depressed  by  the 
scenes  and  sufferings  of  men  around  them.  Still  less 
can  it  understand  that  when  all  things  are  against 
them,  and  their  hopes  seem  to  be  blasted,  still  failing-, 
dying-  in  the  service  of  God,  they  should  be  able  to 
trust  Him  in  whom  they  have  believed. 

Thus  I  have  endeavoured  to  transfer  In  a  figure 
the  words  of  Christ  to  other  men,  that  we  may  see 
in  a  glass  imperfectly  the  nature  of  that  struggle 
which  was  passing  in  His  mind.  The  life  of  Christ 
in  the  Gospels  seems  to  become  sadder  as  we  draw 
nearer  to  His  death.  This  sadness  is  not  caused  by 
the  prospect  of  lingering  suffering;  the  ingratitude 
and  hardheartedness  of  men  pierce  sharper  than 
that.  But  He  is  more  and  more  alone,  as  He 
approaches  to  the  end  of  His  work  on  earth.  No 
one  seems  to  understand  Him ;  even  His  brethren 
and  His  apostles  constantly  mistake  the  meaning 
of  His  words.  And  more  and  more,  if  I  ma}^  use 
such  an  expression,  He  retires  into  Himself  and 
God. 

And  now  I  shall  proceed  to  ask  the  second  ques- 
tion :  If  Jesus  Christ  were  to  come  again  upon  the 
earth,  how  would  He  regard  us  who  are  called  by 
His  name,  and  the  bodies  of  Christians  who  acknow- 
ledge Him  to  be  their  founder  ?  Would  He  belong 
to  any  of  them,  or  would  He  have  something  to  say 
to    all   of    them   in   common  ?     We   know   that   the 

F  2 


68  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

founder  of  a  religion  is  not  like  the  teachers  of  it 
in  after  ages;  he  is  not  bound  by  convention  and 
tradition,  and  he  has  a  high  and  different  standard. 
He  tells  us  the  truths  which  we  least  wish  to  hear, 
and  pierces  the  mask  or  garment  of  self-satisfaction 
in  which  we  cover  ourselves.  For  although  we  do 
not  exactly  praise  ourselves  individually,  yet  we  are 
always  forming  ideals  of  our  Church,  our  nation,  our 
form  of  worship — perhaps  even  our  church  polity, 
which  we  fancy  to  accord  with  the  primitive  model ; 
and  we  love  to  dwell  upon  their  excellencies  and 
overlook  their  defects.  But  to  the  mind  of  Christ 
all  these  things  are  of  secondary  importance — they 
are  for  the  most  part  means  towards  ends  and  not 
the  only  means — in  comparison  of  the  one  question, 
*■  Are  men  becoming  better  ? '  That  is  the  shortest, 
the  simplest,  and  the  most  vital  question,  which  any 
man  can  ask  about  himself,  or  about  his  church,  about 
the  society  in  which  he  lives,  or  about  the  country 
of  which  he  is  a  citizen. 

An  illustrious  person  not  now  living  is  reported 
to  have  said,  '  If  Jesus  Christ  were  to  come  again 
upon  the  earth,  I  have  often  thought  that  He  would 
have  been  written  down.'  He  could  not  have  ap- 
proved of  many  things  in  our  modern  world,  and 
therefore  the  world  would  probably  have  been  at 
enmity  with  Him.  When  He  heard  of  our  religious 
parties  '  calling  down  fire  from  heaven  on  each  other,' 
must  tie  not  have  said  to  them  '  Ye  know  not  what 


v.]  IF  CHRIST  CAME  AMONG   US  69 

manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of.'  And  when  He  saw  that 
these  religious  divisions  extended  to  the  education  of 
the  young,  may  we  not  imagine  Him  to  have  taken 
a  Httle  child,  and  set  him  in  the  midst  and  asked 
whether  we  meant  to  make  him  the  victim  of  a 
religious  dispute  ?  When  he  was  told  of  another 
who  belonged  to  a  different  persuasion  unlicensed 
by  any  regular  authority  going  about  doing  good, 
would  He  have  said  '  Forbid  him '  ?  Might  He  not 
have  been  heard  repeating  to  those  who  insisted 
that  they  could  literally  eat  His  flesh  and  drink  His 
blood,  '  It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth,  the  flesh 
profiteth  nothing '  ?  Or  to  those  who  make  casu- 
istical distinctions  about  the  meaning  of  words,  or 
draw  remote  inferences  from  them,  would  He  not 
have  said  '  Let  your  communication  be  yea,  yea, 
and  nay,  nay,'  or  perhaps,  '  ye  make  void  the  word 
of  God  by  your  traditions '  ?  Or  to  those  who  ex- 
aggerate the  importance  of  days,  '  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath '  ?  For 
we  can  hardly  suppose  that  He  who  came  to  destroy 
Judaism  would  have  allowed  Jewish  errors  to  remain 
among  Christians.  Or  when  He  saw  the  value  set 
on  times  and  places,  and  the  pomp  of  outward  cere- 
monial, would  He  not  have  said  '  The  hour  is  coming 
and  now  is,  when  neither  in  Jerusalem,  nor  in  this 
mountain,  men  shall  worship  the  Father ' ;  and  '  God 
is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship 
Him    in    spirit   and   in   truth  ? '     Or   to   a   rich   and 


70  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

luxurious  age,  would  He  have  abstained  out  of  deli- 
cacy, or  any  fear  of  misunderstanding,  from  repeating 
the  parable  of  Lazarus  and  Dives?  For  the  words 
of  Christ  necessarily  go  beyond  the  established  ideas 
of  religion,  or  the  forms  of  polite  society  ;  they  pierce 
like  a  sword  into  all  things.  And  yet  while  they  go 
so  far  beyond  the  received  religious  opinions  of 
Christians  in  some  respects,  there  are  others  in  which 
they  may  seem  to  fall  short  of  them. 

He  would  have  taught  the  new  commandment, 
which  is  also  old — purity  of  thought  as  well  as  of 
word  and  act ;  the  not  doing  things  that  we  may  be 
seen  of  men,  or  laying  up  for  ourselves  treasure  upon 
earth ;  the  seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  the 
forgiveness  of  injuries,  the  love  of  enemies — '  that 
we  may  be  the  children  of  our  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.'  What !  only  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ! 
and  we  verily  thought  that  He  would  have  spoken 
to  us  of  apostolical  succession,  of  baptismal  regene- 
ration, of  justification  by  faith  only,  of  final  assurance, 
of  satisfaction  and  atonement ;  or  that  He  would 
have  told  us,  not  that  the  Father  came  out  and 
kissed  the  prodigal  son,  and  fell  upon  his  neck  and 
wept,  but  that  there  was  one  way,  and  one  way  only 
by  which  men  could  be  restored  to  the  favour  of  God, 
or  that  He  would  have  wrought  a  miracle  in  the  face 
of  all  men  and  put  an  end  to  the  controversy  about 
them ;  but  He  only  says  '  There  shall  be  no  sign  given 
to  this  generation ' :    or  that  He  would  have  told  us 


v.]        WHAT  CHRIST  WOULD  SAY  TO   US        71 

plainly  when  we  asked  Him  about  another  life ;  but 
He  only  replies,  '  In  the  resurrection  they  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.' 

We  thought  that  we  should  have  been  confirmed 
in  those  points  of  faith  or  practice  in  which  we  differ 
from  others  and  that  they  would  have  been  con- 
demned by  him  ;  that  we  should  have  heard  from 
His  lips  precise  statements  of  doctrines ;  that  He 
would  have  decided  authoratively  disputed  points, 
saying,  'Thus  and  thus  shall  he  think  who  would 
be  saved.'  But  He  puts  us  off  with  parables  about 
little  children,  about  the  wheat  and  the  tares  growing 
together,  about  the  new  wine  and  the  old  bottles, 
about  the  wayward  children  sitting  in  the  market- 
place, about  a  house  divided  against  itself  Instead 
of  answering  our  questions.  He  asks  others  which  we 
cannot  answer.  The  language  of  theology  seems 
never  to  fall  from  His  lips,  but  only  '  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,' 
'  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  is  perfect.'  He  goes  back  to  the  first 
principles  of  truth  and  right ;  He  speaks  as  one 
having  authority,  out  of  the  fullness  of  His  nature, 
and  not  like  any  creature  whom  we  ever  heard. 
And  still  when  we  listen  to  His  words,  the  convic- 
tion is  forced  upon  us,  '  Truly  this  was  the  Son 
of  God.' 

And  when   rulers  or  statesmen  try  to  draw  Him 
to  one  side  or  to  another,  making  Him  utter  their 


72  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

shibboleths  of  order  or  of  freedom,  He  replies  to 
them,  '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'  He  does 
not  ask  under  what  form  of  government  men  are 
living  (though  this  is  very  far  from  being  unim- 
portant), but  He  desires  to  infuse  a  spirit  into  all 
governments.  In  any  of  them  and  under  any  out- 
ward circumstances  men  may  be  His  servants,  and 
His  Gospel  contains  principles  wide  enough  to  in- 
clude them  all.  He  will  not  take  part  with  one 
class  of  society  against  another.  His  answer  to  the 
GaHleans  or  Communists  of  His  own  day  is,  '  Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,'  and  yet 
'  Blessed  are  the  poor,'  and  '  Be  not  ye  called  Master.' 
And  when  He  is  told  of  terrible  deeds  springing  from 
the  power  of  some  fatal  idea,  and  followed  by 
revenges  yet  more  terrible,  do  we  not  seem  to  hear 
Him  saying,  '  Think  ye  that  these  fanatics  were 
sinners  above  all  men  of  that  city ' }  For  that  is 
a  thought  which  the  Gospel  allows  us  to  hold  in 
reserve,  about  the  political  criminal,  whom  the  laws 
of  society  cannot  suffer  to  live.  And  when  hatred 
is  rife  among  men,  and  dead  bodies  are  lying  in  the 
streets,  and  the  air  is  full  of  rumours  and  terrors, 
then  is  the  time  not  to  enlist  our  sympathies  with 
either  party,  but  to  think  of  Christ  weeping  over 
Jerusalem,  pitying  them  all  alike. 

I  have  been  endeavouring  to  describe  Christ  as 
we  may  imagine  Him  beginning  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel over  again,  not  to  one  class  only  but  to  all  of  us 


v.]  PROSPECTS   OF  IMPROVEMENT  73 

in  a  Christian  country.  And  I  think  3rou  will  admit 
that  I  have  not  unfairly  applied  some  words  of  the 
Gospel  to  our  own  times.  There  seems  to  be  a  ver\^ 
great  discrepancy  between  the  religion  of  Christ  and 
the  actual  Church  of  Christ,  between  the  lives  and 
even  the  teaching  of  Christians,  and  the  example 
and  teaching  of  Christ,  to  which,  as  to  a  fountain  of 
light,  we  repair,  purging  away  the  mists  of  eighteen 
centuries,  which  have  insensibly  gathered  over  the 
Christian  world,  yea,  and  over  our  own  hearts 
also. 

And  now  I  would  briefly  consider  the  latter  words 
of  the  text,  '  Shall  he  find  faith  upon  the  earth  ? '  or 
in  other  words,  '  What  prospect  is  there  of  any  great 
moral  or  religious  improvement  among  mankind  ? ' 
We  do  not  expect  to  see  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  the 
heaven,  such  as  is  said  to  have  struck  on  the  eyes  of 
the  wondering  emperor,  nor  are  we  prophets,  or 
interpreters  of  prophecy.  But  there  are  indications 
in  our  own,  as  in  other  times,  if  we  will  read  them, 
of  some  better  state  of  the  world  which  may  be  re- 
serv^ed  for  our  children  or  descendants,  some  hope 
of  the  future,  which  may  animate  this  country  and 
other  countries,  in  spite  also  of  appearances  to  the 
contrary. 

For  we  do  not  suppose  that  the  condition  of  the 
poor  is  always  to  continue  among  us  as  at  present, 
or  deny  that  the  blessings  of  education  and  health 
and    comfort    may   be    equally   diffused   among   all. 


74  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

Can  we  doubt  that  such  a  state  of  society  would 
be  more  truly  Christian  and  more  acceptable  in  the 
sight  of  God  than  that  in  which  we  live  ?  The 
treasures  of  the  earth  have  been  unlocked,  and  wealth 
has  increased  among  us,  but  we  seem  not  as  yet  to 
have  discovered  the  art  of  making  the  increase  of 
wealth  go  hand  in  hand  with  moral  improvement. 
Freedom  of  trade  has  won  a  great  victory  during 
the  last  thirty  years,  but  education  has  followed  after 
with  halting  and  lingering  steps.  And  some  of  us 
may  fear  that  a  great  opportunity  has  been  lost,  and 
that  the  blessing  of  material  prosperity  has  been 
partly  turned  into  a  curse.  But  the  opportunity 
which  has  been  partly  lost  may  recur,  the  fruits  of 
labour  may  still  increase  and  multiply,  and  we  may 
make  a  better  use  of  them.  The  England  of  a 
hundred  years  hence  may  wear  another  and  a  smiHng 
face — may  perhaps  show  that  an  old  country  has  the 
blessings  of  a  new.  There  is  no  law  of  nature  or 
of  political  economy  which  forbids  this ;  the  experi- 
ence of  other  countries  encourages  us  in  the  hope 
of  it.  And  the  Gospel  will  not  allow  us  to  entertain 
the  fatal  doctrine  that  nations,  Hke  individuals,  tend 
necessarily  to  decay ;  or  that  of  human  evils  there  is 
not  a  great  part  which  kings  or  statesmen  may  cause 
or  cure. 

Then  again,  as  to  our  religious  divisions.  Are 
they  not  regarded  differently  now  from  what  they 
formerly  were  ;   are  they  not,  in  some  instances,  be- 


v.]  CHRISTIAN  REUNION  75 

coming-  ridiculous  ?  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there 
is  any  likelihood  of  the  different  churches  or  sects  of 
Christendom  being-  united  in  a  single  communion. 
Nor  is  such  a  union  desirable ;  at  least,  unless  all  men 
could  be  included,  the  world  would  only  be  divided 
more  and  more  into  two  camps  irreconcileably  hostile 
to  one  another.  But  I  think  we  have  reason  to 
expect  that  the  evils  of  religious  division  will  be  much 
diminished,  that  the  members  of  different  religious 
bodies  will  be  more  and  more  able  to  co-operate  with 
one  another  in  schools  and  universities,  in  carrying  on 
works  of  education  and  charity,  in  whatsoever  things 
are  pure  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report ;  not  that 
they  will  give  up  the  principles  for  which  their  fathers 
struggled,  or  the  forms  of  worship  which  they  have 
inherited  from  them.  The  characters  of  individuals 
and  nations  differ,  and  these  differences  enter  into 
their  religious  beliefs.  When  men  read  history  they 
find  often  that  their  position  is  the  result  of  some 
accident  or  misfortune  of  the  past,  and  this  has  a 
softening  influence.  And  when  they  think  of  them- 
selves and  their  brethen,  as  they  are  in  the  sight  of 
God,  they  know  that  they  are  not  really  distinguished 
by  the  names  which  they  bear  in  this  world,  but  that 
in  every  nation  and  in  every  church  he  that  doeth 
righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him. 

Again,  there  seem  to  be  signs  that  the  opposition 
between  religion  and  science,  faith  and  knowledge, 
of  which  we   have  heard  so  much,  is  fading  away. 


76  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

For  there  is  no  real  separation  between  truth  and 
goodness ;  but  for  a  time,  and  owing  to  some  mis- 
understanding, they  appear  to  part  company.  The 
novelties  of  science,  like  any  other  novelties,  slowly 
find  their  way ;  the  conjectures  of  science  or  criticism 
we  are  not  called  upon  to  accept  until  they  are  proven 
to  us.  Religious  men  are  beginning  to  be  aware  that 
they  must  not  deny  any  true  fact  of  history  or  science. 
Scientific  men  are  becoming  conscious  that  human 
life  cannot  be  reconstructed  out  of  the  negative  results 
of  criticism,  or  the  dry  bones  of  science.  The  first 
thoughts  of  persons  often  are :  this  is  at  variance  with 
what  I  learnt  in  childhood,  with  what  I  read  in  scrip- 
tures, with  what  I  hear  from  the  pulpit.  Their 
second  thoughts  are  that  no  truth  can  be  at  variance 
with  any  other  truth,  and  that  they  must  wait  patiently 
for  the  reconcilement  of  them. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  signs  of  greater  harmony 
prevailing  the  world,  and  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  being 
more  diffused  among  men.  They  may  lead  some 
of  us  to  think  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Christianity,  bearing  the  same  relation  to  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  three  last  centuries,  which  the  Reforma- 
tion did  to  the  ages  which  preceded. 

Whether  this  be  too  bold  a  speculation  or  not, 
we  may  be  assured  of  this  that  there  never  will  be 
a  millennium  on  earth  until  we  make  one.  The 
kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation,  is  not 
evident  by  a  sign  from  the  heavens,  or  special  provi- 


v.]  A   NEW  REFORMATION  77 

dences  vouchsafed  to  individuals,  is  not  seen  in  the 
union  of  churches,  or  in  the  declarations  of  councils. 
The  sun  will  rise  as  at  any  other  time ;  the  seasons 
will  come  and  go ;  the  generations  of  men  will  be 
born  and  die  as  in  every  other  period  of  human 
history.  The  difference  will  not  be  in  the  external 
appearance  of  nature,  but  in  the  renewal  of  the  spirit 
of  man.  Christ  will  appear  to  us  not  in  the  extra- 
ordinary, but  in  the  common,  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
poor,  in  the  daily  life  of  the  family,  in  the  integrity 
of  trade,  in  the  peace  of  nations.  The  increase  of 
justice  and  truth,  of  knowledge  and  love,  the  diminu- 
tion of  suffering  and  disease,  of  ignorance  and  crime, 
the  living  for  others  and  not  for  ourselves,  to  do  the 
will  of  God  more  and  more,  and  not  their  own  will, 
these  are  the  only  real  signs  in  individuals  or  in 
nations  that  the  kingdom  of  God  has  come  among 
them. 

And  if  any  one  desire  to  take  part  in  this  work, 
to  restore  the  kingdom  of  God  in  a  parish,  a  school, 
or  a  university,  he  must  bear  in  himself  that  image 
which  he  is  seeking  to  impress  upon  men.  He  who 
would  teach  others  the  lesson  of  reconciliation,  must 
be  free  from  personality  himself;  he  who  would 
instruct  others  must  have  knowledge ;  he  who  would 
support  and  guide  them  must  have  force  of  character ; 
he  who  has  the  words  of  science  and  criticism  on  his 
lips  must  have  the  love  of  truth  in  his  heart.  Young 
men  often  form  ideals  of  the  good  which  they  will  do 


78  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [v. 

to  others ;  they  seem  to  desire  something  higher  than 
the  state  in  which  they  live.  And  after  a  time  the 
ideals  fade  away,  and  they  become  immersed  in  their 
ordinary  occupation  ;  they  see  another  generation 
growing  up  with  the  same  poetical  visions  and 
aspirations,  and  they  prophesy  the  end  of  them,  and 
perhaps  laugh  at  them.  Which  is  right?  The 
foolishness  of  youth  is  sometimes  better  than  the 
experience  of  age.  The  misfortune  is  that  the  visions 
have  fled  away,  when  a  man  has  acquired  the  power 
and  knowledge  which  might  in  some  degree  have 
enabled  him  to  carry  them  out.  But  if  at  thirty,  at 
forty,  at  fifty,  he  could  retain  this  first  love  of  his 
youth  ;  if  he  could  limit  his  aspirations  to  what  was 
really  attainable  ;  if  he  would  study  the  means  to 
ends ;  if  he  would  throw  aside  all  drawbacks  and  every 
weight ;  if  he  would  live  a  little  among  the  classes  of 
whom  he  speaks,  and  learn  from  the  failures  of 
others ;  if,  in  short,  from  being  speculative  he  were 
always  in  process  of  becoming  practical,  those  early 
visions  might  be  the  beginnings  of  a  noble  character, 
they  might  be  a  well-spring  of  everlasting  life.  To 
have  felt  thus  even  for  a  time  is  natural  to  every  fine 
mind  and  to  every  higher  intellect.  He  who  is  able 
to  preserve  them  unchilled  and  unfaded  amid  the 
wear  and  tear  of  human  things,  and  the  temptations 
of  the  world,  against  the  cynicism  and  epicureanism 
of  the  age,  against  the  not  less  deadening  influence 
of  custom  ;  who  is  always  growing  in  experience,  and 


v.]  CHRISTIAN  ENERGY  AND  HOPE  79 

builds  up  success  on  failures  and  disappointments, 
who  is  single  in  his  aims,  and  is  unaffected  by  the 
opinions  of  men,  and  works,  not  for  his  own,  but  for 
the  work's  sake,  will  bring-  the  kingdom  of  God 
nearer  to  us,  and  show,  in  a  figure  more  striking  than 
any  words,  how  Christ  did  the  will  of  His  Father 
while  He  was  on  earth. 


VI 


*  AND    MOSES    SAID     UNTO    THE    PEOPLE,    'FEAR 
YE   NOT,    STAND    STILL    AND    SEE    THE    SALVATION 

OF   THE  LORD.' 

Exodus  xiv.  13. 

There  are  many  allusions  both  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  to  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites 
out  of  Egypt.  It  was  the  beginning-  of  Jewish 
history  in  which  God  was  first  revealed  to  them. 
The  nation  in  after  ages  delighted  to  think  of  the 
sea  opening  a  way  to  their  fathers  and  returning 
to  overwhelm  the  Egyptian  host.  The  passover 
preserved  among  them  the  tradition  of  that  night 
in  which  they  were  suddenly  waked  up  and  sent 
forth  from  the  land.  They  pictured  to  themselves 
the  waters  standing  as  a  wall  upon  the  right  hand 
and  upon  the  left,  while  the  pillar  of  light  was 
turned  towards  them  and  the  cloud  rested  on  their 
opponents.  In  the  ironical  language  of  the  Psalmist, 
*What  ailed  thee,  thou  sea,  that  thou  fleddest,  and 
thou,  Jordan,  that  thou  wast  driven  back  ? '  By  faith, 
as  the  author  of  the  Hebrews  says,  they  passed 
through   the   Red    Sea,  as   on   dry  land,  which   the 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  November  lo,  1878. 


VI.]      WHEN  ISRAEL  CAME  OUT  OF  EGYPT       8i 

Egyptians  essaying  to  do  perished.  Like  some 
wild  animal  they  had  escaped  into  the  desert  out 
of  the  toils  of  the  hunter  ;  they  were  now  beyond 
his  reach  and  could  no  more  be  detained  by  him. 
In  the  exultation  of  freedom  there  bursts  from  them 
that  remarkable  hymn,  of  which  the  burden  is, 
'  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  triumphed 
gloriously ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown 
into  the  sea.'  The  blow  was  struck  at  the  oppressor 
not  by  their  own  arm  but  by  the  power  of  God. 
And  with  the  deliverance  from  the  house  of  bondage 
was  inseparably  connected  in  the  mind  of  the 
Israelite  another  event  in  which  the  majesty  of 
Jehovah  w^as  also  revealed  to  him  : — the  giving-  of 
the  Law !  With  liberty  came  order,  with  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Israelites  as  a  nation  was  first 
proclaimed  to  them  their  rule  of  life,  or  Ten 
Commandments.  And  these  Ten  Commandments 
were  transformed  into  a  higher  law,  which  ever 
and  anon  passed  before  the  eyes  of  psalmists  and 
prophets,  the  law  of  God  written  not  on  tables  of 
stone,  but  on  the  heart  of  man.  These  w^ere  the 
two  leading-  ideas  or  types  of  Jewish  history: 
the  coming-  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  revelation 
of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  They  were  to  the 
Israelite  what  the  heroic  struggle  of  Marathon 
and  Salamis,  what  the  laws  of  their  ancient  law- 
givers were  to  the  Greek.  The  memories  of  them 
appeared  to  the  prophet  in  the  past  or  in  the  future 

G 


82  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

to  be  always  in  process  of  being-  forgotten  and 
being  recovered.  The  God  whom  the  people  of 
Israel  worshipped  was  the  God  who  brought  them 
out  of  a  strange  land  and  who  gave  them  the  law. 
When  they  forsook  it,  He  forsook  them ;  when 
they  forgot  the  traditions  of  their  race,  the  national 
glory  departed  from  them.  And  still  they  were 
confident  that  when  they  returned  to  Him  He  would 
receive  them  like  a  father  pitying  his  children — 
so  near  is  the  relation  of  God  to  them  as  a  nation 
that  through  them  we  seem  to  learn  more  than 
the  world  knew  before  of  His  relation  to  the  indi- 
vidual soul. 

The  narratives  in  which  the  early  history  of  the 
Israehtes  is  recorded,  like  all  other  early  histories, 
are  partly  of  a  poetical  character.  The  poetry  in 
them  is  a  kind  of  prophecy,  that  is  to  say,  it  is  not 
merely  the  work  of  the  imagination  but  is  inspired 
by  a  moral  purpose.  They  were  not  written  down 
or  put  into  form  for  many  hundred  years  after 
the  times  which  they  are  supposed  to  describe. 
Yet  they  are  not  wholly  unhistorical :  of  a  connexion 
between  Judea  and  Egypt  many  traces  are  found 
in  the  Egyptian  monuments,  as  well  as  in  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Israelites.  It  would  be  childish  to 
maintain  that  great  events  like  those  recorded  in 
the  books  of  Moses  did  not  take  place,  because 
they  were  attended  by  signs  and  wonders  in  an 
age  when  all  great  events  were  believed  to  be  more 


VI.]  OLD    TESTAMENT  CRITICISM  83 

or   less   miraculous.     The   narrative  from  which  the 
text    is    taken   has   been   explained   by   saying   that 
'  Moses,  well   acquainted  with  the  tides  of  the  Red 
Sea,    took   advantage   of  the   ebb   and   passed   over 
his  army,  while  the  incautious  Egyptians  attempting 
to  follow  were  surprised  by  the  flood  and  perished.' 
These  w^ords   are  taken  from  a  well-known  history 
of  the  Jews,  written  by  a  great  and  good  man  not 
now  living,  the  late  Dean  Milman,  and  they  breathe 
the  spirit  of  the  older  school  of  German  rationalists 
who  were    also   good   men   and  lovers   of   truth   in 
their  day.     But  I  need  hardly  stop  to  point  out  the 
errors    and    inconsistencies   which    are    involved    in 
such  a  method  of  reducing  Scripture  to  the  laws  of 
probability.     For    such    criticism    has    had   its   day, 
and   like   many  other  labours  of  scholars  under  the 
sun,  has  passed  away  before  a  truer  conception  of 
early    history.     As    little    should    this    narrative    be 
compared   with   the   legends   of  Greek   and   Roman 
States    respecting    their   own   origin.     Neither   is   it 
like  that  famous  Greek  history,  which  was  composed 
'  in  order  that  from  what  had  been  men  might  learn 
what  would  be  in  the  order  of  human  things.'     The 
Israelite  wrote   or   prophesied   that   he  might  tell  of 
God    in   history,   of   His    more   immediate   presence 
among   His   people   Israel,   of   His   wider   dominion 
among    the    nations    of   the   earth.     Such   writings, 
whether    they    take    the    form    of   prophecy    or   of 
history,  are  really  prophetical.     They   have   an   ex- 

G  2 


84  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

traordinary  moral  Interest  and  importance,  and  they 
will  probably  continue  to  supply  the  forms  under 
which  we  conceive  of  some  of  the  great  truths  of 
human  life,  as  long  as  the  world  lasts.  But  we  must 
not  claim  for  them  a  degree  of  historical  certainty 
which  we  neither  find  nor  expect  to  find  in  other 
ancient  histories — we  cannot  exempt  them  from  the 
principles  of  criticism  which  we  apply  to  similar 
writings:  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  destroy  not 
only  their  authority,  but  their  meaning. 

The  spiritual  house  In  which  we  live  is  not  so 
constructed  that  if  a  single  brick  be  taken  out,  the 
whole  edifice  falls  to  the  ground.  Rather  by  re- 
movinof  some  of  the  false  foundations  the  true  ones 
are  made  to  appear.  The  tree  is  not  alive  except 
it  grow,  and  all  growth  implies  some  degree  of 
chanofe  in  which  the  old  Is  entwined  Avith  the  new 
or  is  transformed  into  the  new.  Such  a  process 
is  not  pernicious  or  dangerous,  but  healthy  and 
natural;  the  real  danger  arises  from  the  forcible 
suppression  of  it.  We  may  say  if  we  like,  that 
rehgion  and  science  move  upon  two  different  planes, 
and  are  like  parallel  lines  which  never  touch ;  but 
the  truth  is  that  they  are  touching  everyw^here  and 
at  all  times,  in  our  minds  and  bodies,  In  education, 
in  social  and  political  life,  in  the  history  of  the  world ; 
and  therefore,  if  the  speculative  reconciliation  of 
science  and  religion  seem  at  the  present  moment 
to    be   distant   and   improbable,  we   should   struggle 


VI.]     TRUST  IN  THAT  WHICH  IS  ETERNAL        85 

to  attain  the  practical  reconcilement  of  them  In  our 
own  lives,  not  allowing  mere  scientific  notions, 
whether  physical  or  metaphysical,  to  extinguish  In 
our  minds  the  love  of  God  or  the  power  of  prayer, 
nor  on  the  other  hand  suffering  the  Intensity  of 
religious  or  devotional  feeling  to  do  violence  to 
our  sense  of  truth. 

And  now,  leaving  general  considerations  of  this 
sort,  which  in  our  own  day  naturally  come  into  our 
minds  and  are  often  repeated  in  many  forms,  I  will 
return  to  the  text,  which  we  will  take  In  its  universal 
meaning,  as  It  holds  good  for  all  times  and  may 
be  applied  to  our  own  lives.  '  Stand  still  and  see 
the  Salvation  of  the  Lord.'  These  words  speak  to 
us  of  the  temper  In  which  we  should  meet  the  great 
trials  and  crises  of  life— that  It  should  be  the  temper 
of  calmness  and  strength,  not  of  excitement  and 
alarm — the  temper  which  does  all  that  can  be  done, 
and  leaves  the  result  with  God.  I  propose  to 
describe  to  you  this  temper  or  character  and  Its 
opposite,  as  they  are  seen  working  in  politics,  In 
religion,  in  the  lives  of  individuals. 

The  question  was  once  asked  by  an  eminent  thinker, 
'  Whether  nations,  hke  individuals,  could  go  mad.' 
The  point  of  the  comparison  seems  to  be  that  in  the 
madman  are  displayed  forces  both  of  body  and  mind, 
irrational  Ideas,  yet  transcending  the  ordinary  powers 
of  human  nature.  And  there  certainly  have  been 
great  movements  In  the  history  of  mankind,  such  as 


86  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

the  Reformation  or  the  French  Revolution,  of  which 
no  one  could  foretell  the  extent  or  power.  Then,  in 
a  figure,  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  might  be 
said  to  be  broken  up.  But  such  movements,  like  the 
cataclysms  of  geology,  have  been  rare,  and  they  seem 
likely  to  become  rarer  as  the  world  goes  on.  The 
tendency  of  men  in  general  is  to  stagnation  rather 
than  to  movement ;  their  customs  and  opinions  do 
not  quickly  change,  or  their  prejudices  give  way  very 
readily.  The  stream  of  progress  is  not  a  great  flood, 
which  covers  the  earth,  but  rather  like  a  narrow 
river  which  here  and  there  overflows  its  banks.  The 
forms  of  social  even  more  than  of  political  life  remain 
unchanged,  though  some  new  ideas  float  upon  the 
surface,  or  dance  for  a  moment  in  the  sunbeam.  The 
course  of  human  life  generally,  whether  good  or  bad, 
is  stable,  commonplace,  ordinary. 

Yet  this  is  not  the  aspect  of  the  world  which 
imagination  presents  to  us.  In  spite  of  history  and 
experience,  we  are  apt  to  think  that  our  own  times 
are  more  extraordinary  than  any  other  times ;  we 
are  too  near  to  see  them  in  their  true  proportions. 
This  illusion  is  Hke  that  which  makes  the  lives  of 
individuals  so  much  more  interesting  and  important 
to  themselves  than  the  lives  of  any  other  persons  can 
possibly  be.  We  expect  and  partly  hope  that  strange 
things  will  happen  in  our  own  day,  or,  as  we  some- 
times oracularly  say,  not  in  our  day,  but  in  the  day 
of  those  who  will  live  to  see  them.     The  air  is  full 


VI.]  WRONG   VIEWS  OF  PROPHECY  87 

of  murmurs  of  underground  conspiracies,  of  volcanoes 
and  earthquakes ;  spectres  red  and  blue,  Jesuits  and 
Communists,  seem  to  rise  out  of  the  ground.  This  is 
the  temper  of  alarm  which  takes  away  all  true  insight 
into  the  world,  and  into  human  nature.  In  our  own 
country  we  are  not  strangers  to  such  presentiments. 
How  often,  since  the  days  of  our  youth,  have  w^e  who 
have  reached  middle  and  elder  life  heard  such  notes 
of  ill  omen  as  the  following:  that  trade  was  never 
known  to  be  so  bad ;  that  morality  had  fallen  to  the 
lowest  point ;  that  the  age  of  chivalry  was  gone  ;  that 
the  future  was  dark,  that  the  sun  of  England  had  set 
for  ever :  how  many  prophecies  have  been  made 
about  the  fall  of  empires  which  still  exist ;  of  the 
ruinous  character  of  reforms  and  improvements,  in 
which  all  parties  now  seem  to  acquiesce !  Besides  the 
force  of  habit  and  prejudice,  there  has  been  a  pleasur- 
able excitement  in  imagining  the  world  different  from 
what  we  see  it.  Even  in  the  anticipations  of  war  and 
revolution,  there  is  something-  not  wholly  disagreeable 
to  us.  They  relieve  the  tedium  of  life;  and  when 
our  fortune  or  spirits  are  depressed,  we  imagine  the 
world  to  be  in  sympathy  with  us.  And  there  are 
some  persons  who  find  comfort  in  making  the  worst 
of  all  things,  to  whom  nature  has  granted  the  power 
of  analyzing  or  criticizing  their  fellow  creatures,  but 
denied  them  the  power  of  common  action,  or  the 
inspiration  of  any  noble  or  generous  thought.  To 
such   persons  their  own   contemporaries  are  always 


88  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

pigmies,  second-rate  men  and  the  like;  they  do  not 
unite  with  others,  lest  it  should  take  from  them  some- 
thing of  themselves.  The  burden  of  their  song  is, 
'  that  you  had  better  do  nothing,  for  you  can  only 
do  harm.' 

These  are  the  two  opposite  poles  of  political  feeling, 
the  one  exaggerating,  the  other  minimizing,  actions 
and  events ;  the  one  all  enthusiasm  and  alarm,  the 
other  cynical  and  hopeless ;  the  one  always  darken- 
ing or  illumining  the  prospect  with  the  ever-varying 
colours  of  its  own  mind,  the  other  a  state  to  which 
all  political  truth  is  summed  up  in  the  axiom,  '  Let 
things  alone.'  To  these  I  would  oppose  the  temper 
of  mind  which  sees  things  as  they  truly  are,  which 
is  formed  by  facts,  and  never  allows  imagination  to 
get  the  better  of  them ;  which  is  ready  to  fight  hand 
to  hand  against  real  evils,  and  does  not  waste  its 
strength  upon  the  creations  of  fancy.  There  are  dif- 
ficulties in  political  as  in  private  life,  but  there  are 
none  which  ability  and  force  of  character  may  not 
overcome.  The  stars  in  their  courses  fight  against 
no  man  ;  but  the  meannesses  of  the  world,  the  pre- 
judices of  the  world,  the  personalities  of  the  world, 
may  for  a  time  defer  his  hopes.  He  will  sometimes 
have  to  wait  for  occasions,  not  because  '  the  times  are 
out  of  joint,'  but  because  public  opinion  is  not  pre- 
pared, or  ideas  which  he  wishes  to  realize  are  insuffi- 
ciently presented  to  the  minds  of  men.  In  whatever 
country  or  age  his  lot  may  be  cast,  he  will  accept 


VI.]        A   TEMPERATE  ESTIMATE  OF  LIFE         89 

heartily  the  conditions  of  statesmanship  which  it  im- 
poses on  him.  Often  he  will  be  borne  on  the  deeper 
tide,  when  the  currents  of  the  surface  are  against  him  ; 
he  will  turn  away  from  the  present  and  lift  up  his 
eyes  to  the  future.  And  sometimes  he  will  find  that 
his  reputation  and  character  grow  best  in  silence,  for 
in  public  as  well  as  in  private  there  is  a  time  to 
abstain  from  speaking  as  well  as  a  time  to  speak. 
He  knows  the  conditions  of  common  action,  and  yet 
he  will  refrain  from  personality  and  party  spirit; 
these  he  leaves  to  inferior  minds.  He  inclines  to 
regard  his  adversaries  (unless  there  be  some  distinct 
proof  to  the  contrary)  as  actuated  by  the  same  mo- 
tives which  inspire  himself  or  his  friends.  Above  all, 
he  will  learn  the  lesson  which  his  own  life  teaches ; 
he  will  acknowledge  his  errors ;  he  will  not  from 
a  miserable  egotism  try  to  justify  or  extenuate  every 
proceeding  in  which  he  had  a  hand ;  '  I  have  made 
many  mistakes  in  the  course  of  life,  and  some  of 
them  very  gross  ones,  but  the  English  people  have 
been  generous  and  forgiven  them,'  is  the  touching 
confession  of  a  venerable  statesman  lately  deceased. 
I  might  quote  the  words  of  another :  '  In  the  past 
there  are  many  things  that  I  condemn,  many  things 
that  I  deplore,  but  a  man's  life  must  be  taken  as 
a  whole.'  This  is  the  language  of  great  men  who 
have  had  experience  of  human  affairs.  And  yet  while 
acknowledging  their  own  errors  and  imperfections, 
they  may  also  retain  the  sense  that  the  political  world 


90  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

is  a  noble  field  for  exertion,  and  that,  although  the 
future  is  not  likely  to  be  very  different  from  the 
present,  yet  by  patience,  by  experience,  by  the  right 
use  of  opportunities,  a  man  of  sense  in  the  course 
of  life  may  do  a  great  deal  for  his  country  or  even  for 
the  world.     It  is  not  true  to  say 

'  Of  all  the  ills  that  human  hearts  endure, 
How  small  the  part  that  kings  can  cause  or  cure ! ' 

For  it  is  a  great  part  which  is  directly  caused,  and 
a  still  greater  which  might  be  prevented  by  rulers 
and  statesmen. 

An  eloquent  voice  has  been  raised  among  us  during 
the  last  few  years  proclaiming  that  our  material  re- 
sources are  being  exhausted,  that  our  religious  belief 
is  undermined,  that  our  government  is  passing  into 
the  hands  of  the  disorderly  and  ignorant.  These  are 
the  characters  which  the  hand  of  the  prophet  traces 
upon  the  wall,  the  signs  which  an  able  and  thoughtful 
man  reads  in  the  world  around  him  of  England's 
decay.  But  may  we  not  reply  to  our  '  Cassandra ' 
that  he  looks  only  at  one  set  of  tendencies  and  takes 
no  account  of  the  other ;  that  the  causes  to  which  he 
refers  may  affect  the  surface  or  outward  appearance, 
but  scarcely  touch  the  inner  life.  For  there  is  no 
necessary  decay  in  nations.  Though  their  trade  may 
be  diminished,  their  coalfields  exhausted,  their  revenue 
declining,  yet  all  that  makes  up  the  true  life  of  man, 
intelligence,  public  spirit,  morality,  may  still  remain 


VI.]  CASSANDRA'S  PREDICTIONS  91 

to  them.  The  ruggedest  countries  in  old  times  have 
been  the  mothers  of  some  of  the  noblest  races  ;  and  it 
is  very  likely  that  the  character  of  nations  as  of  in- 
dividuals may  be  purified  and  strengthened  by  the 
discipline  of  trial,  and  by  a  return  to  simpler  modes  of 
life.  And  what  if  in  reply  to  our  discerner  of  the 
signs  of  the  times  we  could  point  to  an  increase  of 
education,  to  a  diminution  of  drunkenness,  pauperism, 
and  crime,  to  a  greater  accord  and  mutual  under- 
standing among  the  nations  of  Europe  ?  And  if  it  is 
religion  and  not  morality  which  is  imagined  to  be 
dying  out  among  us,  then  we  may  reasonably  hope 
that  this  is  rather  a  change  in  the  outward  form,  than 
in  the  inner  character  of  our  national  life,  and  that  as 
in  other  ages  and  countries  the  religious  spirit  has 
declined  and  also  revived,  so  also  it  may  revive  after 
its  decline  among  us,  and  may  be  found  to  have  an 
influence  greater  than  ever,  because  more  indissolubly 
associated  with  morality.  The  same  kind  of  answer 
may  be  made  to  the  last  of  his  three  warnings.  The 
many,  we  acknowledge,  are  not  wiser  than  the  few, 
although  they  may  in  the  long  run  be  better  judges 
of  their  own  interests.  But  neither  does  experience 
give  us  reason  to  suppose  that  the  people  are  enemies 
to  order  or  property,  or  that  they  cannot  co-operate 
with  the  educated  and  intelligent  in  the  government  of 
a  country. 

It   is   recorded   of  our  great  teacher   of  the   last 
century,    that    he     was     particularly     impatient    of 


92 


COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 


those  who  came  to  him  complaining  '  That  the 
country  was  lost.'  That  keen  observer  of  human 
nature  was  well  aware,  how  trivial,  how  personal 
might  be  the  motives  which  gave  birth  to  this  most 
commonplace  of  all  sentiments.  For  the  truth  is 
that  no  country  is  really  lost,  though  many  go  on 
for  a  time  foundering  through  the  degeneracy  of 
a  race  or  the  imbecility  of  their  leaders.  Have 
not  we  ourselves  within  the  last  twenty  years  seen 
the  disjointed  parts  or  members  of  two  great 
European  nations^  come  together,  and  grow  into  a 
living  whole,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  prophets 
and  philosophers  ?  Have  we  not  seen  another  great 
and  noble  people^  for  a  time  humbled  in  the  dust? 
They  were  thought  to  be  incapable  of  independence 
and  scarcely  to  deserve  it — and  now  not  by  deeds 
of  arms,  but  by  triumphs  of  a  nobler  kind,  by  thrift, 
by  endurance,  by  good  sense,  by  union  among 
themselves,  they  have  been  restored  to  a  foremost 
place  among  the  powers  of  Europe.  We  too  a  few 
months  ago  were  standing  with  our  arms  folded, 
humiliated  and  dispirited  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
and  now  the  cloud  seems  to  be  partly  breaking  and 
we  see  some  dawn  of  light ;  and  although  many  diffi- 
culties remain  and  perhaps  seem  to  increase  upon 
us  with  nearer  contact  (such  as  there  must  always 
be  in  the  attempt  to  reconcile  hostile  races  and 
religions)  we   too   begin   to   hope  that  we  may  bear 

^  Italy  and  Germany.  ^  France. 


VI.]  EUROPEAN  IMPROVEMENT  93 

some  part  In  alleviating  the  miseries  and  oppressions 
of  distant  nations,  from  whose  destiny  our  own  can 
never  be  wholly  disconnected^. 

And,  therefore,  looking  back  on  these  examples, 
I  say  once  more  that  the  true  temper  of  politics  is 
the  temper  of  confidence  and  hope.  '  Stand  still 
and  see  the  Salvation  of  the  Lord.'  Be  patient, 
and  instead  of  changing  every  day  with  the  gusts 
of  public  opinion,  observe  how  curiously,  not 
without  a  divine  providence,  many  things  work 
themselves  out  into  results  which  no  man  foretold. 
The  times  are  not  evil,  nor  have  mankind  grown 
worse  than  of  old.  But  neither  now  nor  formerly 
can  great  works  be  accomplished  or  great  deliverances 
wrought,  either  for  nations  or  individuals,  without 
energy  and  patience  and  a  purpose  which  endures 
through  many  changes  of  circumstances  and  many 
lives  of  men,  and  a  vision  which  sees  events  as  they 
truly  are. 

In  the  second  place,  I  was  to  speak  to  you  of 
the  temper  of  repose  and  confidence  in  the  matter 
of  religion.  This  is  a  sphere  of  thought  and  feeling 
in  which,  as  of  old,  men  seem  especially  subject 
to  panic  and  alarm.  Primitive  tribes  are  startled 
at  their  own  shadows  on  the  mountains,  and  in 
later  ages  men  project  their  own  fancies  into  space 

^  The  Congress  and  Treaty  of  Berlin,  in  the  summer  of 
1878,  checked  the  progress  of  Russia  and  added  to  the  in- 
fluence of  England  in  the  East. 


94  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vr. 

until  they  assume  monstrous  and  gigantic  propor- 
tions. Like  children  they  excite  themselves,  and  their 
excitement  like  that  of  children  is  increased  by  the 
sympathy  of  one  another.  During  the  last  fifty  years, 
how  many  notes  of  alarm  have  been  sounded  in  our 
ears?  The  day  of  Pentecost  was  believed  to  have 
returned ;  the  reign  of  Christ  on  earth  was  daily, 
almost  hourly  expected;  the  end  of  the  world  was 
confidently  placed  in  the  year  1866.  At  the  passing 
of  some  measure  calculated  to  render  justice  to  some 
oppressed  class  of  our  fellow  Christians,  an  Insult  was 
supposed  to  be  offered  to  the  majesty  of  heaven. 
The  Jewish  prophecies  were  discovered  to  coincide 
minutely  with  the  turn  of  political  events  In  the 
Europe  of  the  nineteenth  century ;  the  varying  for- 
tunes of  the  great  Emperor  Napoleon  the  First  were 
discerned  in  them.  Babylon  was  Rome,  the  Pope 
Antichrist,  the  loosing  of  the  four  angels  by  the  river 
Euphrates  was  an  allegory  of  the  Revolution  of  1848. 
And  one  by  one  the  authors  of  these  fancies  have 
passed  from  the  scene;  having  In  several  Instances 
outlived  their  own  interpretations  of  prophecy.  And 
another  and  another  generation  has  Inherited  their 
ideas  and  continued  to  build  up  the  baseless  fabric. 
I  would  not  speak  disparagingly  of  good  and  simple- 
minded  men,  who  have  spent  their  lives  In  these 
imaginary  Inquiries.  But  we  must  remark  that  such 
speculations  tend  to  withdraw  the  mind  from  the 
simple  truths  of  religion,  that  they  foster  the  spirit 


VI.]  CHANGES  IN  RELIGION  95 

not  of  charity  but  of  party,  for  which  they  seem  to 
extract  a  warrant  out  of  Scripture ;  lastly,  that  they 
tend  to  prevent  our  seeing  the  history  of  Christendom, 
as  well  as  its  present  condition,  in  a  true  light,  and 
therefore  from  understanding  our  relations  to  it. 

But  besides  these  imaginary  alarms,  there  are  real 
grounds  of  apprehension  which  cannot  be  dismissed 
in  an  instant.  We  are  all  observing  the  great  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  religious  opinion  during 
the  last  forty  years.  They  have  followed  two 
directions  equally  abhorrent  to  the  sentiments  of  our 
fathers,  Rome  and  Germany.  One  of  these  move- 
ments has  found  more  favour  among  the  clergy^,  the 
other  among  the  laity.  No  attempts  to  suppress 
either  of  them  have  met  with  any  success.  They 
seem  to  be  not  peculiar  to  this  country,  but  common 
to  other  countries,  though  taking  somewhat  different 
forms.  Older  persons  are  very  unwilling  to  be 
reconciled  to  them  ;  to  the  young,  like  other  novelties, 
they  soon  become  familiar.  In  many  a  Christian 
home  they  have  been  a  source  of  misunderstanding 
and  estrangement.  I  do  not  say  that  they  are 
unimportant,  far  from  it.  Still  the  temper  of  alarm 
and  exaggeration  is  not  the  right  way  of  meeting 
them ;  and  one  or  two  remarks  may  perhaps  enable 
us  to  see  these  movements  more  in  their  true  pro- 
portions. 

First,  we  observe  that  they  are  not  simply  caused 
by  the  activity  of  one  or  two  great  teachers.     The 


96  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

movements  seem  to  carry  away  the  teachers  rather 
than  to  be  led  by  them.  They  are  not  produced 
artificially,  but  arise  naturally  out  of  the  age  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  the  age  of  criticism  and 
inquiry,  the  age  also  which  contains  in  itself  the 
necessary  reaction  against  the  inquiry  to  which  it 
has  given  birth.  Formerly  both  in  our  own  and  in 
other  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  level 
both  of  thought  and  feeling  was  lower ;  mankind 
rested  more  in  custom,  and  the  disturbing  influences 
were  fewer.  We  need  not  say  that  we  are  better 
than  our  fathers  or  that  our  fathers  were  better  than 
we  are,  but  thus  much  we  may  say :  that  the  quiet  of 
those  good  old  times  and  the  restless  inquiry  and 
practical  earnestness  of  our  own  day  can  hardly  be 
combined  in  one. 

But,  secondly,  we  may  note  that  the  alarm  excited 
by  these  new  practices  and  opinions  is  partly  the 
result  of  their  novelty.  When  we  become  used  to 
them  they  no  longer  outrage  our  feelings;  and  we 
more  easily  learn  to  dissociate  them  from  the  essence 
of  religion.  Twenty  years  ago  pious  persons  were 
grievously  offended  when  they  heard  that  the  world 
had  existed  during  infinite  ages,  or  that  important 
texts  were  wanting  in  the  oldest  MS.  of  the  New 
Testament,  or  that  discrepancies  occurred  in  the  nar- 
ratives of  the  Gospels.  But  now,  what  educated 
man  troubles  himself  about  difficulties  of  this  sort.^ 
A  similar  remark  may  be  made  about  the  services 


VI.]  GREAT  GROUNDS   OF  UNITY  97 

of  our  Church :  who  now  objects  to  the  wearing  of 
a  surplice,  which  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  as  of 
the  Puritans,  excited  so  bitter  an  opposition,  or  to 
the  decoration  of  the  Communion  Table  with  flowers, 
or  to  many  other  customs  which  have  been  intro- 
duced within  the  memory  of  most  of  us,  and  seem 
to  be  quite  as  much  of  an  aesthetical,  as  of  a  reli- 
gious nature  ?  Whether  they  be  good  or  bad,  it  is 
clearly  an  advantage  that  we  should  cease  to  think 
much  about  them,  because  then  they  no  longer 
distract  us  from  the  weightier  matters  of  religion. 

These  changes  are  not  unimportant,  nor  the 
differences  which  are  symbolized  by  them  slight,  but 
neither  are  they  so  great  as  they  appear.  If  others 
cannot  see  this  and  we  can,  it  is  our  duty  to  mediate 
between  ourselves  and  them,  and  to  reconcile  them 
one  to  another.  It  would  be  a  very  bad  sign  of  latitu- 
dinarianism  in  rehgion,  if  the  one  thing  in  which  it 
was  wanting  was  that  charity  '  without  which  all  our 
doings  are  nothing  worth.'  Two  generations  in  the 
same  family,  two  brothers  or  sisters  in  the  same 
house,  have  gone  the  one  to  the  right  hand  and  the 
other  to  the  left — this  is  not  an  uncommon  experience 
of  life — their  religious  opinions  differ  because  their 
characters  differ:  we  are  not  all  cast  in  the  same 
mould.  Now  what  I  think  we  should  never  cease 
to  impress  upon  ourselves  is,  that  where  there  is 
honesty  and  self-sacrifice  and  a  love  of  truth,  the 
matters  in  which  we  agree  are  far  more  important 

H 


98  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

than  those  in  which  we  differ  can  ever  be.  Natural 
affection  is  a  safer  guide  in  such  matters  than  the 
definitions  of  Doctors  of  the  Church.  We  may 
observe  in  social  life  that  there  are  some  persons 
who  have  a  singular  power  of  attracting  others  to 
them  by  drawing  out  what  is  good  in  them.  That 
is  the  temper  in  which  to  treat  religious  differences. 
Or  in  a  higher  strain  of  reflection  we  may  take 
both  ourselves  and  them  into  the  presence  of  God, 
and  anticipate  in  thought  that  united  family  of  all 
Churches,  nations,  and  languages,  which  shall  one 
day  appear  before  Him  there. 

Thus  amid  all  the  changes  of  religious  opinion, 
and  the  theological  discord  which  distracts  the  world, 
we  may  possess  our  souls  in  peace.  But  we  must 
acknowledge  the  conditions  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live ;  we  cannot  roll  back  the  tide  of  secular  know- 
ledge, nor  can  we  confine  religious  movements  to 
the  limits  in  which  we  desire  that  they  should  work. 
And  if  sometimes  our  ears  are  dulled  and  our  minds 
confused  by  the  Babel  of  voices  which  dins  around 
us,  we  may  turn  away  from  them,  and  listen  only 
to  that  voice  which  speaks  to  us  from  within  of 
truth  and  love,  of  righteousness  and  peace. 

Lastly,  let  us  apply  the  same  principle  to  our  own 
lives.  The  evils  of  life  would  be  greatly  diminished 
if  we  could  see  them  as  they  truly  are,  and  if  when 
we  have  recognized  their  true  nature  we  could  cast 
them  all  upon  God.     The  real  troubles  of  life  are 


VI.]        POSSESS   YOUR  SOULS  IN  PEACE         99 

sometimes  great  and  seem  to  be  overwhelming  for 
a  time,  but  they  are  not  to  be  compared  with  those 
which  imagination  conjures  up.  When  we  draw 
near  to  them  they  are  almost  always  such  as  common 
prudence  may  overcome.  As  in  a  journey  through 
the  mountains,  at  a  distance  the  rocks  seem  to  enclose 
us,  but  when  we  come  up  to  them  an  outlet  appears ; 
and  the  real  diJBSculty  is  not  in  the  misfortune  itself 
which  looks  so  terrible,  the  loss  of  fortune  or  friends, 
but  in  ourselves  who  are  unequal  to  meet  it.  Why 
should  we  who  for  the  most  part  are  provided  with 
the  means  of  life  be  so  fretful  and  anxious  about  the 
future.  If  we  have  prepared  ourselves  for  the  future, 
we  shall  find  our  place  in  it ;  if  we  are  unprepared, 
no  change  of  circumstances  will  be  of  any  use  to  us. 
We  are  careful  and  anxious  about  many  things  which 
distract  us  from  the  better  part.  We  need  to  see 
ourselves  as  we  truly  are  in  all  our  relations  to  God 
and  our  fellow-men.  We  need  to  carry  into  the 
whole  of  life  that  presence  of  mind  which  is  required 
of  the  warrior — 

Who  in  the  hour  of  conflict  keeps  the  law 
In  calmness  made,  and  sees  what  he  foresaw. 

We  need,  above  all,  to  recognize  that  our  lives  are 

not   the  sport  of  chance,  but  they  have  their  deep 

foundation   in   the   laws   of  nature  and  in  the  Will 

of  God. 

In    sickness   too,  when  we   are   hanging   between 

life  and  death  and  physicians  are  watching  over  us 

H  2 


loo  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vi. 

and  noting-  the  symptoms  hour  by  hour,  we  can  do 
nothing  better  than  he  still  and  see  the  salvation  of 
the  Lord !  Whether  our  prayer  is  '  O  spare  me 
a  little  that  I  may  recover  my  strength,'  or,  '  Into 
Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,'  we  are  ready  to 
leave  the  event  with  God.  It  is  our  duty,  if  we  can, 
to  recover ;  and  it  is  our  best  hope  of  recovery  to 
be  patient  and  to  cast  our  burden  upon  the  Lord. 
We  must  keep  the  mind  above  the  body ;  and  if 
during  weary  days  and  nights  the  very  distractions 
of  mind  and  body  seem  to  be  lost  in  a  dull  sense 
of  pain  and  misery,  still,  beyond  and  above  that, 
there  may  be  some  light  shining  upon  us,  some 
voice  speaking  to  us  from  afar,  some  inward  peace 
that  cannot  be  shaken.  I  have  known  persons 
during  the  last  year  who  would  not  have  been 
alive  now  but  for  their  wonderful  patience  and  resig- 
nation in  long  and  painful  sickness.  The  time  of 
illness  may  be  the  time  in  which  we  are  apparently 
the  most  useless,  and  yet  may  be  a  time  in  which 
our  own  character  undergoes  the  greatest  change. 
And  the  memory  of  some  illnesses  have  been,  not 
only  in  the  mind  of  the  sufferer  but  of  others  who 
have  been  the  witnesses  of  them,  the  best  recollection 
of  their  lives,  the  image  of  Christ  crucified  brought 
home  to  them  in  the  face  of  a  child,  or  of  a  parent, 
to  which  they  have  turned  again  and  again  in  times 
of  sorrow  and  temptation.  There  is  no  nobler  spirit 
in  which  we  can  meet  death  than  that  of  an  eminent 


VI.]        PEACE  IN  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH        loi 

serv^ant  of  Christ  (Edward  Thring),  who,  when  his 
physicians  told  him  that  he  was  ill  of  a  mortal  disease, 
while  his  friends  were  hoping  and  believing  that  his 
valued  life  had  been  granted  to  their  prayers,  said 
only,  'Whether  we  live  we  live  unto  the  Lord,  or 
whether  we  die  we  die  unto  the  Lord.' 

And  now  I  shall  sum  up  the  meaning  which  I  have 
imperfecdy  sought  to  convey  in  words  which  have 
been  the  comfort  of  many : — 

'The  hills  stand  round  about  Jerusalem  ;  even  so  standeth 
the  Lord  round  about  them  that  fear  Him.' 

'Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou 
disquieted  within  me?  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  will  yet 
praise  Him  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance  and  my 
God.' 

'  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.' 

'  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures ;  He  leadeth 
me  beside  the  still  waters.' 

'Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me ;  Thy  rod  and 
Thy  staff  they  comfort  me.' 


VII 


»  THE   WORDS   THAT  I  SPEAK  UNTO  YOU,   THEY  ARE 
SPIRIT  AND    THEY  ARE   LIFE. 

John  vi.  63. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  relation  In 
which  the  spirit  of  Scripture  stands  to  the  history  or 
narrative.  But  there  Is  no  difficulty  In  seeing  that  the 
love  of  God  and  the  spirit  of  Christ  are  gifts  and 
graces  of  a  far  higher  sort  than  any  belief  in  facts, 
whether  natural  or  supernatural,  and  are  far  more 
Intimately  connected  with  the  religious  life  of  the  soul. 
For  the  record  of  facts  is  necessarily  of  a  passing 
and  evanescent  character  ;  they  fade  away  Into  the 
distance,  and  are  very  imperfectly  conceived  by  us 
at  the  end  of  one  or  two  thousand  years.  Words 
are  not  so  fresh  and  living  as  they  were  when  first 
spoken  or  written  down ;  questions  arise  about  them 
to  which  they  give  no  answer,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
centuries  they  may  often  be  taken  In  different  senses. 
But  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  the  same  always ;  the  spirit 
of  justice  and  mercy,  of  truth  and  love,  the  spirit  in 
which  a  man  lives  for  others  and  not  for  himself. 
These  are  the  elements  of  religious  life  which  he  who 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  May  26,  1878. 


THE  SPIRIT  NOT  THE  RECORD  103 

wills  may  find  within  his  own  heart.  Like  the  light 
they  have  a  self-evidencing  quality  and  need  no  other 
witness.  They  do  not  fade  away  as  time  goes  on  ; 
no  theological  or  metaphysical  skill  is  required  to 
understand  them,  nor  is  the  meaning  of  them  liable 
to  be  imperilled  in  their  passage  from  one  language 
to  another.  The  simple  ideas  of  truth  and  right  and 
the  life  which  conforms  to  them  are  beyond  the  power 
of  criticism  to  assail  or  disturb. 

And  therefore  we  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that 
the  Christian  religion  is  a  spirit  and  not  a  letter, 
inward  and  not  outward,  moral  and  not  historical. 
Thus  it  becomes  akin  to  goodness  and  truth  every- 
where, and  is  parted  from  them  only  by  an  imaginar}^ 
line.  But  mankind  in  all  ages  have  been  tending  to 
invert  this ;  they  have  been  putting  that  w^hich  is 
outward  and  historical  in  the  place  of  what  is  inward 
and  spiritual.  Thus  there  are  some  persons  who 
believe  that  the  Christian  religion  can  only  rest  safely 
on  the  witness  of  miracles.  It  is  not  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  or  the  mind  or  life  of  Christ,  or  the  pro- 
gressive revelation  of  God  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  and  in  the  religions  of  the  world,  or  their 
own  immediate  consciousness  of  Divine  truth,  which 
affect  them  half  as  much  as  the  power  which  Christ 
and  His  Apostles  are  declared  to  have  possessed  of 
working  miracles.  Forgetting  that  uncertainty  must 
always  in  some  degree  attach  to  the  testimony  of 
ancient  and  fragmentary  writings  at  the  distance  of 


I04  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

many  centuries;  forgetting  that  the  evidences  to 
which  they  appeal  are  possessed  by  other  rehgions, 
and  that  the  most  corrupt  forms  of  Christianity  are 
most  ready  to  make  use  of  them ;  not  considering 
that  the  very  meaning  of  the  word  is  altered  in 
modern  times  by  the  distinct  recognition  of  laws  of 
nature,  and  that  the  question  is  simply  one  of  evidence 
and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Christian  Hfe ;  they 
are  willing  to  take  Christianity  off  its  eternal  and 
immutable  basis  and  to  place  it  on  an  insecure  and 
artificial  one.  And  if  they  happen  to  meet  with  the 
objections  which  are  often  urged  in  the  present  day 
against  the  evidence  of  prophecy  or  of  miracles, 
the  fabric  of  their  belief  comes  tottering  down,  and 
their  minds  grow  darkened  and  confused.  But  the 
language  of  Scripture  is  of  another  kind  from  this. 
Christ  is  not  saying  to  us,  either  now  or  when  he 
was  on  earth,  '  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders  and 
preserve  the  recollection  of  them  in  after  times,  ye 
can  have  no  sure  ground  of  belief ;  but,  '  Except  ye 
see  signs  and  wonders  ye  will  not  believe.'  He  is 
rebuking  those  who  imagine  that  His  mission  is  to 
be  proved  by  signs  and  wonders.  Or  as  He  says 
in  the  text,  at  the  same  time  uttering  a  sort  of  cry 
over  the  wilfulness  (or  shall  I  say  the  stupidity)  of 
mankind,  '  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are 
spirit  and  they  are  truth.'  As  if  he  said :  '  Do  under- 
stand what  I  mean  ;  not  the  letter,  not  the  fiofure,  not 
all  that  succeeding  ages  have  fancied  that  they  saw 


VII.]    THE   TRUE  MESSAGE   OE  PENTECOST    105 

in  those  words,  flesh  and  blood,'  but,  '  I  in  them  and 
Thou  in  Me,  that  they  all  may  be  made  perfect  in 
one.'  And,  therefore,  my  brethren,  I  shall  not  say 
much  of  the  '  signs  and  wonders '  which  are  believed 
to  have  accompanied  the  first  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
as  on  this  day,  because  that  aspect  of  the  subject  is  not 
of  very  great  importance  to  us  ;  and  because  the  nature 
of  the  miracle  is  not  quite  clear  in  the  narrative  of  the 
Acts ;  and  no  light  is  thrown  upon  it  either  by  other 
passages  of  Scripture  or  by  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Leaving  this,  I  propose  to  consider  the  festival  of 
Pentecost,  the  old  Jewish  festival  of  thanksgiving  for 
the  harvest,  in  a  wider  manner  as  the  figure  of  that 
greater  harvest  into  which  the  whole  civilized  world 
has  been  gathered ;  an  ingathering  which  is  pre- 
figured with  reference  to  its  internal  workings,  by  the 
image  of  leaven  gradually  leavening  the  whole  lump  ; 
so  that  the  small  rudimentary  Church  which  met  with 
closed  doors  in  an  upper  room,  of  which  the  names 
were  reckoned  together  at  about  120,  is  now  counted 
by  hundreds  of  millions.  On  this  day  I  think  that  we 
may  naturally  meditate  on  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
not  merely  as  exhibited  among  the  first  disciples,  but 
as  diffused  throughout  the  world,  one  and  continuous, 
bound  together  by  many  outward  links  and  having 
many  differences  of  government  and  history,  and  yet 
preserving  the  Christian  consciousness  of  the  same 
spirit,  the  same  life,  the  same  Head.  And  first  I  will 
say  something  of  the  drawbacks  which  have  hindered 


io6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

the  spread  of  Christianity  over  the  world,  and  the 
want  of  power  which  it  shows  even  in  Christian 
countries ;  and  will  proceed  to  inquire  how  far  and 
In  what  sense  the  religion  of  Christ  may  be  said  to 
be  a  failure,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  and 
what  are  the  causes  of  this.  And,  secondly,  I  will 
speak  of  the  hopes  of  the  future,  and  consider  whether 
there  be  any  ground  for  thinking  that  the  religion  of 
Christ  may  still  have  a  mission  of  glad  tidings  for  the 
Church  and  the  world ;  whether,  in  the  figurative 
words  of  the  prophets,  it  be  probable  or  conceivable, 
'  That  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  should  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea ' ;  or  whether,  as 
some  persons  tell  us,  the  bounds  of  Christianity  are 
already  fixed,  and  the  spirit  of  the  day  of  Pentecost 
has  evaporated  or  been  extinguished.  Thirdly,  I  will 
speak  of  the  revivals  of  the  Christian  rehglon  which 
have  taken  place  from  time  to  time,  or  are  taking 
place  in  our  own  day,  of  the  tests  by  which  they  are 
to  be  judged,  and  of  the  relation  in  which  they  stand 
to  the  true  progress  of  the  Gospel. 

(i)  When  we  look  back  upon  the  past  history  of 
Christianity,  we  are  struck  by  the  fact  that  the  spread 
of  the  Christian  religion  has  been  in  former  ages 
precarious  and  uncertain  ;  for  the  first  three  centuries 
in  antagonism  to  the  power  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  then  again  with  the  world  on  its  side,  employing 
the  weapons  of  force  rather  than  persuasion  in  the 
conversion  of  the  barbarians,  subject  generally  to  the 


VII.]  THE  SLOW  SPREAD  OF  TRUE  RELIGION  107 

will  of  princes  though  sometimes  rising-  up  against 
them,  dependent  on  the  accidents  of  persons,  affinities 
of  race,  the  course  of  secular  events.  We  might  have 
imagined  that  the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  to  His 
children  would  have  at  once  ravished  the  hearts  of  the 
human  race,  and  that  all  men  everywhere  would  have 
recognized  at  once  that  peace  was  better  than  war, 
union  than  division  ;  the  light  and  easy  yoke  of  the 
service  of  Christ  better  than  the  tyranny  of  a  dark 
and  cruel  superstition.  We  might  have  imagined 
that  the  spirit  of  Christ  would  have  shone  forth  in  its 
purity,  that  what  men  surely  believed  they  would 
inevitably  have  practised,  and  that  at  least,  when  they 
were  ready  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on  their 
opponents,  they  would  have  given  proof  of  their 
belief  by  doing  the  works.  We  might  have  thought 
that  good  men  would  not  have  been  found  out  of  the 
same  mouth  giving  praises  and  thanksgiving  to  God, 
and  invoking  curses  on  those  who  were  not  of  the 
same  sect  or  party  or  opinion  with  them,  yet  equally 
with  themselves  the  creatures  of  His  love.  We  might 
have  expected  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  who  said 
'  Forbid  them  not '  would  have  animated  His  followers. 
But  history  and  experience  tell  a  different  tale. 

For  the  truth  is  that  in  human  nature  good  and  evil 
are  closely  connected  together,  and  the  corruption  of 
the  best  is  often  the  worst.  Even  union  may  easily 
become  a  source  of  division.  A  body  of  men  organize 
themselves  with  the  view  of  carrying  out  some  great 


io8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vn. 

and  good  purpose  :  there  is  nothing  wrong  in  this  ; 
but  see  what  is  most  Hkely  to  happen.  The  new 
body  is  almost  necessarily  in  antagonism  to  those  who 
are  just  outside  them  ;  the  spirit  which  draws  them 
towards  one  another  is  apt  to  alienate  them  from  the 
rest  of  the  world.  This  is  the  danger  against  which 
Christ  means  to  guard  us  in  the  parable  of  the  Wheat 
and  the  Tares :  '  Let  both  grow  together : '  as  if  He 
would  say,  '  Do  not  attempt  to  distinguish  people 
by  outward  marks,  do  not  divide  a  congregation  of 
Christians  (this  congregation  or  any  other)  according 
to  their  standard  of  Churchmanship,  or  orthodoxy,  or 
devotion  of  life.  Those  judgments  of  people  belong 
to  God  only.'  This  is  the  reason  why  the  boundaries 
of  Churches  should  be  made  as  wide  as  possible  and 
the  passage  from  one  to  the  other  as  easy  as  possible, 
lest,  peradventure,  we  should  stereotype  some  ancient 
enmity  of  centuries  ago,  or  consecrate  with  a  religious 
name  some  scheme  of  earthly  ambition.  Does  any- 
body think  it  a  good  thing  that  this  country  should 
be  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  feeling  more 
acutely  their  antagonism  to  one  another  than  their 
common  relation  to  Christ?  When  men  have  per- 
suaded themselves  (perhaps  on  the  ground  that  they 
alone  have  the  true  form  of  Church  Government, 
whether  Episcopal,  or  Presbyterian,  or  Independent) 
that  their  Church  Is  exclusively  the  Church  of  God, 
then,  instead  of  learning,  like  their  Father  Who  is  in 
heaven,  to  embrace  all  other  men  in  the  arms  of  their 


VII.]    CAUSES  OF  THE  CHURCH'S  FAILURES    109 

love,  their  affections  become  narrowed  and  fixed  on 
persons  of  their  own  sect ;  those  who  agree  w^ith  them 
they  call  good,  those  who  disagree  with  them  evil ; 
they  concentrate  their  minds  on  some  notion,  some 
power,  some  practice,  which  they  desire  to  maintain 
or  exercise  ;  they  will  even  make  God  the  author  of 
their  fancies  and  assume  a  Divine  authority  for  some 
minute  point  of  doctrine,  some  trifle  of  ritual,  some 
external  form,  some  ancient  metaphysical  subtlety, 
forgetting  that  the  sum  of  real  religion  must  ever  be 
'  to  do  justice,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  God.'  This  is  a  page,  or  rather  many  pages,  in 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  suggests  one 
reason  w^hy  Christianity  has  failed  so  much  in  carrying 
out  its  objects,  because  the  spirit  of  party  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  spirit  of  Christ — the  spirit  of  violence 
and  persecution  in  former  ages  which  has  dwindled 
into  the  spirit  of  enmity  and  dislike  and  detraction  in 
our  own. 

Again,  there  is  another  reason — the  worldliness  of 
professing  Christians,  Instead  of  Christianity  con- 
verting the  world,  the  world  has  in  part  converted 
Christianity.  The  victory  of  arms,  the  triumphs  of 
ambition,  the  weapons  of  policy  and  craft,  have  taken 
the  place  of  that  other  victory  which  is  spiritual. 
Kings  and  prelates  have  been  nominally  Christian,  but 
they  have  been  really  aiming  in  the  name  of  Christ 
at  earthly  power  and  aggrandisement.  It  has  been 
so  very  palpable  that  when  they  were  speaking  of 


no  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

another  life  they  were  really  thinking  about  this. 
And  without  going  to  history  for  examples  we  may 
observe  the  same  thing  in  our  daily  life  and  among 
our  neighbours,  and  then  hold  up  the  glass  to  our- 
selves. All  the  doubts  of  sceptics  are  as  nothing,  or 
as  very  little,  compared  with  the  great  doubt  which 
arises  in  men's  minds  from  the  ways  of  Christians 
themselves  saying  one  thing  and  doing  another. 
Could  such  an  one  have  had  any  real  belief  in  the 
religion  which  he  professes,  though  he  may  have  been 
a  regular  attendant  of  some  Chapel  or  Church,  who 
all  his  life  long  went  on  heaping  up  riches  and  never 
thought  seriously  of  doing  good  to  any  one  but  him- 
self and  his  family }  Men  can  hardly  say  that  the 
religion  of  Christ  has  failed  until  they  have  practised 
it  a  little  more.  And  so  of  ourselves.  Do  the  lives 
of  most  of  us  make  any  approach  to  what  we  all 
know  and  admit  to  be  right  ?  Are  we,  I  will  not  say, 
taking  up  the  cross  and  following  Christ — for  that 
may  be  thought  beyond  the  present  age — but  are  we 
doing  much  for  any  one  but  ourselves?  Can  we 
wonder  that  Christianity  should  be  hollow  and  con- 
ventional when  our  lives  are  hollow  and  conventional  ? 
The  evil  of  which  we  complain  is  within  us.  This, 
then,  is  a  second  reason  of  what  I  have  ventured  to 
term  the  apparent  failure  of  the  Christian  religion — 
the  worldliness  of  professing  Christians. 

I  will  mention  one  other  reason  without  professing 
to  exhaust  them  all.     [A  great  historian  has  arranged 


vii]        ILL   SUCCESS   OF  CHRISTIANITY         iii 

under  several  heads  the  causes  of  the  success  of 
Christianity:  I  am  trying  to  give  some  of  the  causes 
of  its  v^ant  of  success  both  in  our  own  and  other 
ages.]  It  is  this,  that  Christians  have  not  taken  the 
right  means  to  their  end ;  they  have  not  claimed,  as 
Christ  would  have  done,  the  good  everywhere  as 
their  own ;  they  have  too  often  been  at  war  with 
the  progress  of  knowledge,  which  is  the  greatest 
power  in  this  world  and  the  best  friend  of  moral 
improvement ;  they  have  looked  with  suspicion  on 
speculations  and  inquiries  about  the  laws  of  nature 
and  of  past  history;  they  have  been  lovers  of  good- 
ness, gentleness,  purity,  self-devotion,  but  they  have 
not  been  equally  lovers  of  truth  and  justice.  They 
have  drawn  lines  between  secular  and  religious  Hfe, 
and  sometimes  even  seem  to  have  imagined  that 
they  could  be  pleasing  to  God  without  morality. 
Christian  teachers  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  under- 
stood the  nature  of  man  or  the  world  in  which  God 
has  placed  him  ;  they  have  not  seen  how  much  he 
was  the  child  of  circumstances,  and  must  necessarily 
depend  even  in  his  moral  nature  (for  body  and  soul 
are  strangely  intertwined)  on  the  air  which  he 
breathed,  on  the  water  which  he  drank,  on  the  house 
in  which  he  abode,  on  the  employment  in  which 
his  life  was  passed.  They  seem  to  have  thought 
that  his  superiors  and  the  ministers  of  religion 
had  hardly  any  duties  towards  him  but  directly 
religious  ones.     This  division  of  secular  and  rehgious. 


112  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

of  physical  and  moral ;  this  opposition  of  science  and 
revelation,  and  even  of  one  class  of  virtues  to  another, 
suggest  a  third  reason  why  in  the  nineteenth  century 
Christianity  is  so  backward ;  why,  as  some  persons 
have  said,  '  Infidelity  is  in  a  more  hopeful  condition 
than  formerly.' 

And  yet,  with  all  these  errors  and  drawbacks,  it 
would  be  an  error  to  suppose  that  the  religion  of 
Christ  has  not  greatly  leavened  and  altered  the 
world,  both  in  its  temper  and  character,  as  well  as  in 
many  of  its  customs  and  institutions.  Is  there  not 
a  gentler  and  more  humane  feeling  among  men  ? 
A  greater  tenderness  for  the  weak,  the  poor,  the 
suffering,  the  young  ?  Is  there  not  a  higher  standard 
of  morality  and  purity  ?  A  greater  elevation  of  man 
above  his  merely  physical  and  animal  nature  ?  Have 
we  not  had  examples  of  saints  and  martyrs  and  other 
devoted  persons  whose  lives  seem  to  widen  and  exalt 
human  nature,  and  to  give  us  a  higher  notion  of  man 
than  we  could  have  received  from  the  old  Gentile 
civilization  ?  Are  there  not  inestimable  social  bless- 
ings which  have  flowed  from  Christianity,  even  in 
her  mixed  and  adulterated  state,  such,  for  example, 
as  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  in  earlier  European 
history  or  the  emancipation  of  the  negro  within  the 
memory  of  many  of  us  ?  The  greater  sacredness  of 
the  marriage  tie  may  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause. 
Shall  we  forget  that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  in 
former  ages  a  refuge  and  a  sanctuary  from  barbarous 


VII.]  FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  113 

and  lawless  men  ?  Shall  we  not  remember  that 
amid  all  the  darkness  and  confusion  of  the  world  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Prophets  and  of  the  New  Testament 
have  been  presers^ed  to  us,  and  that  many  words  of 
Christ  Himself  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  and 
of  that  fountain  of  truth  and  light  we  still  drink? 
Therefore  I  say  that  Christianity  (although  we  see 
her,  not  like  a  bride  descending  from  heaven,  but 
overgrown  with  the  weeds  of  earth,  partaking  of  the 
mixed  character  of  all  human  things)  has  not  failed 
of  her  purpose,  but  men  have  dishonoured  her  and 
married  her  to  their  own  ambitious  desires  and 
interests.  And  as  a  good  man  may  truly  say  that 
the  evil  which  is  in  him  comes  from  himself  and 
the  good  from  the  grace  of  God,  so  may  we 
say  as  Christians  that  the  good  in  the  Christian 
Church  is  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  that  the  evil  is  due  to  the  follies  and  fantasies 
of  men. 

(2)  And  now  we  will  turn  to  the  second  division 
of  the  subject — the  hopes  of  the  future — and  ask  the 
question  whether  the  growth  of  Christianity  will 
always  equally  be  retarded  by  the  same  causes  and 
will  always  equally  fall  short  of  the  intention  of  Christ, 
ever  aspiring,  ever  failing,  by  the  very  nature  of  man  ; 
or  whether,  notwithstanding  some  appearances  to  the 
contrary,  the  next  generation  or  some  other  may 
not  have  clearer  convictions  of  religious  truth  than 
we  or  our  fathers  have  had.     In  such  an  inquiry  we 

I 


114  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

must  be  careful  of  putting-  names  in  the  place  of  things. 
We  are  not  speaking  of  outward  Christianity  or  of 
the  outward  Christian,  but  of  him  of  whom  St.  Peter 
said,  '  Whosoever  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted 
of  Him  ' ;  of  whom  Christ  saith,  '  He  that  giveth  a 
cup  of  cold  water  in  My  name  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his 
reward.'  We  may  put  the  question  in  a  more  general 
form — is  there  any  hope  of  the  world  through  the 
influence  of  the  Christian  religion  or  by  any  other 
means  becoming  better  ?  Hope  is  a  Christian  virtue, 
like  faith,  and  may  be  called  the  attitude  of  cheerful- 
ness towards  God  and  towards  human  life.  Of  course 
our  hopes  about  this  or  that  event  taking  place  are 
not  in  themselves  any  proof  that  what  we  desire  will 
happen.  Still  we  may  see  grounds  for  our  hopes 
in  the  changing  circumstances  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  world.  Many  persons,  as  you  know,  have  died 
in  the  belief  that  within  their  own  lifetime  they  would 
witness  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  Others  have 
thought  that  the  greatest  blessing  and  good  which 
God  could  confer  upon  the  world  would  be  the  union 
of  the  Greek,  Roman,  and  Anglican  Churches  in  one 
body ;  they  would  then  be  able  to  call  down  fire  from 
heaven  on  their  opponents  to  some  purpose.  I  see 
no  reason  for  thinking  that  either  of  these  millenniums 
are  likely  to  take  place  in  the  nineteenth  century ; 
nothing  in  what  we  see  around  us  would  lead  us  to 
expect  it.  The  signs  of  the  future,  to  which  I  propose 
to  call  your  attention,  are  of  a  more  commonplace  and 


VII.]  SIGNS   OF  IMPROVEMENT  115 

less  startling-  kind,  yet  of  a  kind  more  in  accordance 
with  the  words  of  Christ,  '  The  kingdom  of  God 
cometh  not  with  observation,  neither  shall  they  say, 
Lo  here,  or  lo  there.' 

The  first  thing-  that  I  shall  notice  is  that  there  is 
not  so  much  party  spirit  as  formerly.  Men  are  be- 
ginning to  get  tired  of  it,  and  the  world  is  rising-  up 
and  protesting-  against  the  violence  of  the  Churches. 
That  the  governments  of  Europe  do  not  altogether 
allow  them  to  do  as  they  please  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  a  mark  of  degradation  which  is  imposed  upon 
Christ  and  His  servants,  but  as  a  very  great  blessing 
to  themselves  and  others.  It  might  be  otherwise  it 
you  could  suppose  a  Church  animated  solely  by  the 
love  of  goodness  and  truth  and  absolutely  devoid 
of  every  worldly  and  interested  motive.  But  such 
a  kingdom  of  heaven  cannot  exist  upon  earth.  And 
therefore  it  is  good  for  people  themselves  that  they 
should  not  be  allowed  to  do  all  that  they  would  like 
to  do.  If  in  former  ages,  and  also  in  our  own,  the 
Church  may  be  truly  said  to  have  been  '  a  school- 
master to  the  world  to  bring  men  to  Christ,'  there 
are  also  some  lessons  Avhich  the  world  has  taught  the 
Church,  some  truths  of  common  sense  and  practical 
life  which  the  laity  have  seen  more  clearly  than  the 
clergy.  Christians  are  beginning  to  think  of  them- 
selves more  as  they  are  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  less 
with  reference  to  those  envious  lines  of  demarcation  or 
external  notes  of  difference  which  intersect  Christian 

12 


ii6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

countries.  And,  as  St.  Paul  when  he  was  led  by  the 
spirit  of  God  to  the  conclusion, '  There  is  neither  Greek 
nor  Jew,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  are  one  in  Christ 
Jesus,'  was  led  also  to  the  other  conclusion,  that  they 
could  only  be  united  to  God  and  to  one  another  by 
an  internal  principle,  so  in  our  own  day,  in  this 
chaos  of  religious  opinions  in  which  we  sometimes 
seem  to  live,  men  are  beginning-  to  feel  as  they  put 
aside  outward  differences  that  nothing  but  a  change 
of  life  and  heart  can  make  us  acceptable  to  God. 
'  True  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the 
Father  is  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widow,  and  to  keep 
himself  unspotted  from  the  world.'  True  religion  and 
undefiled,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  put  the  language  of 
St.  James  into  more  modern  phraseology,  is  integrity, 
disinterestedness,  simplicity,  the  service  of  man  for  the 
love  of  God. 

And  besides  this  tendency  which  I  think  we  may 
observe  in  the  present  day  to  receive  the  faith  of 
Christ  more  naturally  and  simply,  more  as  a  rule  of 
duty  which  a  father  gives  his  children  about  which 
there  cannot  be  much  mistake  (although  there  may  be 
great  difl&culty  in  bringing  their  wayward  wills  into 
conformity  with  His  will) ;  besides  this  I  think  that 
we  may  notice  also  that  there  is  a  greater  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  that  is,  of  ourselves,  among  us  than 
formerly.  We  know  better  what  we  are  and  how  the 
constitution  of  man  must  be  treated,  sometimes  morally, 
sometimes  physically;   we  have  more  power  over  cir- 


VII.]   GREATER  SIMPLICITY  AND  REALITY     117 

cumstances  than  formerly,  and  better  understand  that 
man  is  the  child  of  circumstances.  And  although  we 
have  made  but  little  progress  as  yet  in  that  first  of 
Christian  duties,  the  removal  of  the  evils  of  our  great 
towns  (without  which  there  certainly  never  can  be  the 
beginning  of  a  millennium  in  this  world),  still  we  are 
now  aware  of  the  evil  of  which  our  fathers  were  uncon- 
scious, and  may  hope  to  see  steady  and  continuous 
attempts  made  to  find  a  remedy.  A  Christian  man 
will  hardly  go  into  the  lanes  and  alleys  of  London  or 
of  any  of  our  large  manufacturing  towns,  and  look 
upon  the  sallow,  miserable,  overcrowded,  stunted 
beings  who  come  peeping  out  of  their  dens  into  the 
sunshine  on  a  holiday  or  Sunday,  and  not  feel  pained 
and  grieved  and  ashamed  and  in  some  degree  guilty  at 
the  thought  that  human  nature  should  be  so  degraded 
in  a  Christian  country.  This,  again,  appears  to  be 
a  hopeful  sign  of  the  future.  Almost  everything  has 
to  be  done,  but  there  is  the  sense  that  it  ought  to  be 
done.  Let  experience  shine  upon  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  and  the  light  of  the  Gospel  upon  experience, 
and  then  we  shall  no  more  have  such  absurdities  as 
the  attempt  to  do  good  to  men's  souls  while  we  neglect 
their  bodies,  or  the  attempt  to  relieve  their  physical 
wants  by  modes  which  only  increase  their  moral 
degradation. 

Once  more :  I  have  spoken  above  of  the  antagonism 
of  science  and  revelation,  which  has  no  doubt  a  great 
effect  in  alienating  the  minds  of  thoughtful  and  edu- 
t 


ii8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

cated  men  from  the  faith  of  Christ.  But  is  this 
antagonism  to  continue  for  ever  ?  It  may  be  very- 
natural  that  the  new  and  the  old  should  quarrel 
a  little ;  we  are  going-  through  a  period  of  transition 
and  have  not  yet  settled  down  in  our  right  places. 
(Do  not  let  us  imagine  that  this  period  of  transition, 
or  '  the  strange  times  we  live  in,'  as  other  persons 
express  themselves,  can  ever  be  the  smallest  possible 
excuse  for  violating  any  particular  of  our  duty  to  God 
and  man,  which  is  written  like  as  a  sunbeam  and  plain 
as  the  sun  in  the  heavens.)  But  is  not  this  antagonism 
also  beginning  to  pass  away  ?  For  no  man  of  sense 
can  ever  imagine  that  the  enquiry  into  truth  can  be 
displeasing  to  the  God  of  truth,  even  if  carried  to  the 
utmost  in  a  reverent  and  earnest  spirit — even  if,  like 
the  patriarch  of  old,  it  seems  to  be  going  out  on 
a  voyage  of  discovery,  not  knowing  whither  it  goes. 
No  Christian  teacher  will  go  to  a  man  of  science  and 
say  to  him,  '  Come  and  be  the  follower  of  Christ,  but 
you  must  give  up  astronomy,  you  must  believe  that 
the  sun  goes  round  the  earth ;  you  must  give  up 
geology  and  go  back  the  old  four  thousand  years  be- 
fore Christ ;  you  must  cease  to  enquire  into  the  material 
causes  which  affect  the  human  mind.'  No  one  will  go 
to  the  scholar  and  say,  '  Come  to  Christ,  but  first  give 
up  enquiries  about  His  life  and  the  origin  of  the 
Gospels ' ;  or  to  the  historian,  '  Come  to  Christ,  but 
take  only  that  view  of  the  facts  of  history  which  the 
Church  approves.'     No  man  of  sense  will  say  this  to 


VII.]  CHRISTIANITY  AND  SCIENCE  119 

another  (and  indeed  what  sort  of  notion  could  he  have 
of  a  God  who  required  this  ?)  And  we  may  even  go 
a  step  further  and  say  that  the  progress  of  science 
and  knowledge  (although  this  too,  owing  to  the  dis- 
proportion of  the  parts  of  knowledge,  may  have 
a  temporary  evil  effect)  has  been  an  aid  and  support 
of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  is  gradually  becoming 
incorporated  with  it,  and  more  than  any  other  cause 
has  tended  to  purify  it  from  narrowing  and  hurtful 
superstitions,  which  we  easily  recognize  in  other 
religions  or  in  other  forms  of  the  Christian  religion, 
not  so  easily  in  our  own.  Therefore  I  say  that  this 
opposition  is  already  melting  away  and  becoming 
a  matter  of  names ;  and  that  Christianity  is  in  this 
respect  not  in  a  worse,  but  in  a  better  position  than 
formerly,  because  no  longer  wasting  her  energies  on 
a  fruitless  struggle,  but  seeking  to  embrace  all  men 
and  the  good  and  truth  in  all  things  within  the  limits 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

So  I  think  we  may  see  some  elements  of  hope  and 
life,  as  well  as  of  discouragement,  in  the  present  state 
of  the  world  and  of  the  Church.  If  we  discard  names, 
and  look  a  little  more  into  the  nature  of  things,  we 
shall  scarcely  find  that  upon  the  whole  Christianity 
is  in  a  w^orse  position  than  formerly,  though  many 
things  that  once  seemed  unchristian  may  now  be 
deemed  Christian,  and  many  things  that  were  once 
deemed  Christian  may  in  our  own  day  seem  at  vari- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  Christ. 


I20  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

And  now  (3)  leaving-  the  question  of  the  past  and 
of  the  future  of  Christianity,  I  may  on  this  day  not 
inappropriately  draw  your  attention  to  the  revivals 
of  Christianity  which  have  taken  place  from  time  to 
time  in  this  or  other  ages,  as  at  the  Protestant  Re- 
formation, or  the  counter- Reformation  among  Roman 
Catholics,  or  in  the  aftergrowth  of  Puritanism  in  the 
time  of  the  Commonwealth,  or  at  the  foundation  of 
Wesleyanism  among  ourselves.  The  narratives  of 
these  movements  are  among  the  most  curious  portions 
of  history,  and  I  need  hardly  say  that  there  are  cir- 
cumstances which  give  them  a  peculiar  interest  at  the 
present  moment.  Those  who  are  not  fitted  either  by 
character  or  antecedents  to  take  part  in  them,  may 
yet  have  a  friendly  sympathy  with  them,  and  be 
willing  to  bid  them  God  speed.  There  are  two  or 
three  reflections  which  naturally  arise  in  our  minds 
when  we  contemplate  them.  First,  they  serv^e  to 
show  us  the  natural  strength  of  the  religious  principle 
in  the  soul,  which,  at  the  very  moment  when  some 
persons  are  telling  us  that  Christianity  is  about  to 
die  out  and  leave  the  earth,  breaks  forth  with  a 
renewed  power.  Secondly,  they  indicate  a  want 
which  hitherto  the  regular  forms  of  religion  have 
failed  to  meet.  Thirdly,  we  see  that  they  are 
transient  and  emotional ;  they  come  and  go ;  they 
sometimes  partake  almost  of  the  nature  of  a  phy- 
sical affection.  And  the  great  object  of  those  who 
guide  them  should  be  to  make  that  permanent  which 


VII.]  REVIVALS   OF  RELIGION  121 

is  in  its  nature  transient,  to  add  the  conviction  of 
reason  to  emotion  ;  to  raise  the  physical  which  is  in 
them  to  the  spiritual;  to  insist  above  all  on  the  one 
true  test  of  conversion,  '  Cease  to  do  evil,  learn  to 
do  well.' 

These  movements  ought  not  to  be  ridiculed  or 
sneered  at  by  persons  of  education  though  there  may 
be  ridiculous  circumstances  connected  with  them. 
They  seem  to  touch  masses  whom  we  are  unable  to 
reach,  and  the  mere  fact  that  they  have  brought  or 
seemed  to  bring  words  of  life  and  comfort  to  poor 
creatures  v/ho  never  heard  them  before,  should  ex- 
empt them  from  ridicule.  We  cannot  expect  all 
persons  to  receive  the  Gospel  in  the  same  quiet, 
rational  manner.  Do  you  suppose  that  the  poor 
and  uneducated,  the  serving  man  in  a  low  employ- 
ment, the  colliers  whom  Wesley  describes,  as  he  saw 
them,  with  the  tears  chasing  the  soot  from  their  faces, 
can  be  taught  the  Gospel  exactly  in  the  same  way 
that  we  are  ?  I  will  put  a  case  which  seems  to  me 
truly,  though  imperfectly,  to  describe  the  matter: — 
Human  love,  too,  has  a  ridiculous  side,  and  yet  is 
one  of  the  most  sacred  of  human  things ;  and  it 
may  perhaps  be  the  better  for  having  its  w^eaknesses 
laughed  at,  if  we  do  not  also  learn  to  sneer  at  its 
real  value  and  importance.  Now  I  think  that  we  can 
easily  imagine,  or  rather  that  we  may  daily  see,  that 
a  young  man  unde*-  -^he  influence  of  such  feelings, 
if  he   have   any  worthy   notion   of  the   meaning  of 


122  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

love,  will  find  it  much  easier  to  leave  off  bad  habits, 
such  as  drinking  or  any  other  vice,  and  then,  if  at 
any  time  of  his  Hfe,  he  will  desire  with  his  whole 
soul  for  the  sake  of  another  that  he  may  be  a  good 
man.  Even  so,  when  the  love  of  God  and  Christ 
is  diffused  in  the  soul  of  a  man,  he  finds  it  easier 
to  get  above  himself,  to  live  for  others,  to  conquer 
his  merely  animal  nature.  And,  though  there  may 
be  a  good  deal  of  illusion  accompanying  such  feelings, 
of  which  those  who  are  subject  to  them  should  be 
aware,  yet,  if  we  get  rid  of  the  illusion  and  fix  the 
good,  they  may  also  be  the  beginnings  of  a  higher 
Hfe  in  us,  which  will  last  when  the  revival  has  passed 
away.  Such  a  movement  passed  over  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  first  thirty  years  of  this  century, 
and  has  been  succeeded,  as  you  know,  by  another 
movement  of  a  different  and  in  some  respects  oppo- 
site character ;  by  another  and  another  and  another. 
We  who  are  now  living  can  hardly  judge  of  them 
impartially,  because  we  are  under  the  influence  of 
them  and  we  cannot  know  their  future  consequences. 
But  what  will  posterity  say  of  them  ?  They  will 
observe  that,  like  other  religious  movements,  they 
had  their  time  of  growth  and  decline,  and  that  after 
they  had  passed  away  they  left  a  state  of  exhaustion 
and  perhaps  of  reaction.  The  same  cannot  repeat 
itself  in  the  same  form,  but  weaker  and  weaker. 
They  would  remark,  probably,  that  much  more  in 
them  than  we  are  able  to  detect  is  really  a  survival 


VII.]      TESTS   OF  RELIGIOUS  MOVEMENTS      123 

of  the  past.  They  will  judge  them  in  that  point  of 
view  from  which  they  are  least  likely  to  judge  of 
themselves — by  a  political  and  moral  standard.  Did 
they  raise  the  tone  of  society  ?  Did  they  increase 
mutual  confidence  ?  Did  they  diminish  drinking  ? 
Did  they  find  the  people  uneducated  and  leave  them 
educated?  Was  the  voice  of  their  supporters  lifted 
up  in  the  cause  of  justice  and  humanity,  when  no 
party  interest  seemed  to  be  at  stake  ?  Have  they 
tended  after  all  to  elevate  or  to  lower  the  moral 
sentiments  of  mankind,  e.g.  to  increase  the  love  of 
truth  or  the  power  of  superstition  and  self-deception  ? 
Did  they  divide  or  unite  the  world  ?  Did  they  leave 
the  minds  of  men  clearer  and  more  enlightened,  or 
did  they  add  another  element  of  confusion  to  the 
chaos?  Did  they,  seeing  the  difficulties  in  which 
religious  belief  is  temporarily  involved,  drive  men 
back  from  reason  and  history  to  take  refuge  in  the 
emotions?  These  are  the  principles  by  which  they 
must  be  judged  at  the  bar  of  history  and  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  God.  These  are  the  tests  which 
we  must  apply  to  them  and  to  our  own  hves  also. 
No  final  assurance  or  intensity  of  inward  conviction 
can  take  the  place  of  them.  However  sure  we  may 
be,  we  cannot  be  sure  that  we  are  not  mistaken 
unless  our  faith  is  indissolubly  bound  up  with  truth 
and  right  and  the  well-being  of  mankind. 

I    have    detained    you    too    long    in    speaking  of 
subjects    which    have    been    too   much    compressed. 


124  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vii. 

Yet  before  I  conclude  let  me  sum  up  what  I  have 
been  saying  under  the  figure  of  an  individual 
life. 

A  man  may  look  back  upon  his  own  past  history 
in  later  years  and  see  how  he  has  been  guided  by  the 
providence  of  God  in  childhood,  in  youth,  in  man- 
hood ;  he  may  remark  how  he  erred  from  ignorance 
and  want  of  experience ;  what  great  mistakes  he 
made  ;  how  often  by  accident  he  was  kept  out  of 
harm's  way ;  how  many  of  his  own  actions  he  now 
deeply  condemns  ;  he  will  perhaps  think  how  much 
more  he  might  have  effected  if  he  could  have  always 
seen  things  as  he  now  sees  them.  And  if  he  be  a 
brave  and  energetic  man  he  will  not  give  up  the  rest 
of  Hfe  as  hopeless,  but  he  will  stand  on  the  past  and 
look  forward  to  the  future.  He  will  not  say  to 
himself,  '  I  can  never  have  again  a  first  love  or  a 
springtime  of  life.'  But  at  forty  or  fifty,  or  sixty 
or  seventy  years  of  age  he  will  feel  himself  to  be 
beginning  still  and  have  a  good  hope  in  him  that  the 
last  years  of  his  life  will  be  happier  and  more  useful 
and  more  energetic  than  his  earlier  years,  not  to  be 
counted  mournfully  as  they  pass  away  one  by  one,  but 
to  be  made  more  of  because  there  are  fewer  of  them. 
The  chief  ground  of  his  hope  will  be  that  he  knows 
himself  better  and  knows  other  men  better ;  if  he  has 
not  the  loves  of  his  youth  he  has  not  the  quarrels  of 
his  youth,  nor  does  he  mistake  his  friends  for  his 
enemies.      He   has   learned   to   recognize   the   really 


VII.]  HOPE  FOR  INDIVIDUALS  125 

important  things  of  life  and  to  set  aside  the  lesser. 
And  so  he  goes  on  in  peace  to  his  end. 

Even  so  the  Church  of  Christ  may  be  now  only  in 
the  middle  of  her  course,  and  may  yet  be  destined  to 
exist  for  a  thousand,  for  two  thousand,  or  for  many 
thousand  years,  through  endless  changes  in  human 
things,  and  changes  in  herself  also.  And,  although 
she  may  have  lost  something  of  her  first  love,  she  may 
have  also  attained  a  deeper  and  calmer  wisdom.  In 
looking  back  on  her  own  vicissitudes  she  has  the 
same  kind  of  retrospect  as  the  individual — of  great 
errors  and  great  faults,  of  friends  mistaken  for 
enemies  and  enemies  for  friends,  of  passions  assuming 
the  form  of  virtues ;  and  yet  withal  she  has  a  sense  of 
the  Providence  of  God  watching  over  her  and  the 
angel  of  His  Presence  covering  her.  Only  by 
degrees  has  she  arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  her  true 
self ;  only  by  degrees  has  she  learned  to  cast  the  light 
of  experience  on  the  words  of  Christ.  There  is  still 
a  good  hope,  though  not  in  the  sense  sometimes 
expected  by  missionary  efforts,  that  Christianity  may 
become  a  universal  religion.  Hitherto  she  has  been 
'a  house  divided  against  herself;  now  she  is  be- 
ginning to  see  that  with  many  apparent  differences, 
there  is  a  deeper  underlying  unity  which  is  drawing 
men's  hearts  together  and  under  many  names  bringing 
them  to  Christ.  And  so,  with  a  deeper  knowledge 
of  human  nature  and  a  deeper  insight  into  the 
purposes  of  God,  she  goes  forth  in  another  and  wider 


126  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

spirit,  acknowledging-  the  good  and  truth  everywhere, 
even  among  those  who  are  not  called  by  His  name, 
acknowledging  the  presence  of  Christ  everywhere, 
to  meet  the  wants  of  men,  to  heal  their  religious 
differences,  to  alleviate  their  physical  necessities ;  not 
to  unite  as  many  as  can  be  got  together  under  the 
banner  of  Christ  as  though  he  were  some  leader  of 
a  party  or  of  an  army,  but  through  Him  to  bring  back 
all  sects,  nations,  languages,  to  one  another  and  to 
God. 


VIII 

'  REJOICE,    O    YOUNG  MAN,   IN    THY    YOUTH;    AND 

LET  THY  HEART  CHEER  THEE  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THY 

YOUTH,    AND  WALK  IN    THE    WAYS  OF  THY  HEART, 

AND   IN    THE    SIGHT    OF    THINE   EYES;    BUT   KNOW 

THAT   FOR    ALL    THESE    THINGS    GOD    WILL    BRING 

THEE   INTO  JUDGMENT. 

ECCLES.  XI.  9,  lO. 

The  book  of  Ecclesiastes  is  the  saddest  and  strangest 
book  of  Scripture.  We  wonder  how  the  author  of 
it  could  have  retained  his  faith  in  God  and  in  righteous- 
ness ;  for  he  makes  no  attempt  to  justify  the  ways  of 
God  to  man  ;  he  does  not  seek  to  reconcile  the  picture 
of  human  life  which  he  draws  with  any  higher  purpose 
or  design.  He  sees  everywhere  the  vanity  of  the 
world,  the  nearness  of  the  grave,  the  indifference  of 
all  earthly  things.  He  reflects  upon  the  sameness  of 
nature,  upon  the  sameness  of  human  life,  upon  the 
common  lot  of  wise  and  foolish.  He  tries  pleasure, 
he  tries  wisdom  ;  but,  though  wisdom  is  superior  to 
folly,  both  are  alike  hushed  in  death.  He  warns  us 
against  the  uselessness  of  heaping  up   riches,  or  of 

^  Preached  at  St.  Mary's,  Oxford,  February  5,  1882,  as 
one  of  a  course  of  special  sermons  to  undergraduates  on 
Sunday  evenings,  organized  b}^  the  late  Mr.  Ffoulkes,  Vicar 
of  St.  Mary's. 


128  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

making  many  books.  He  considers  all  the  oppres- 
sions which  are  done  under  the  sun,  and  scarcely 
seems  to  find  a  trace  of  a  divine  Providence  guiding- 
the  world.  He  takes  a  sort  of  mournful  interest  in 
the  scene  which  he  is  surveying,  so  transient  to  each 
individual,  so  permanent,  and  almost  monotonous,  if 
the  long  series  of  generations  is  considered.  The 
order  of  the  world  is  fated,  and  man  is  hurried  away 
in  the  stream,  having  a  dream -like  consciousness  of 
his  own  existence.  Upon  the  whole,  after  contem- 
plating as  from  a  throne,  in  the  person  of  the  great 
King  of  Jerusalem,  the  multitude  of  human  occupations 
which  lie  beneath  him,  the  author  is  inclined  to  think 
that  there  is  nothing  better  upon  the  face  of  the  earth 
than  quiet  and  innocent  enjoyment,  although  this,  too, 
is  cut  short  in  death.  '  Live  joyfully  with  the  wife 
whom  thou  lovest,  all  the  days  of  thy  vanity.'  This 
is  the  best  which  earth  has  to  give. 

Yet,  along  with  this  despairing  note,  answering 
sadly  to  thoughts  which  sometimes  beset  men's  hearts 
in  other  ages  and  countries,  is  heard  another  voice, 
which  is  the  expression  of  the  truth  and  righteousness 
of  God.  If  the  aims  of  men  in  general  are  not  worth 
pursuing,  if  life  is  short,  if  pleasure  and  wisdom  alike 
make  themselves  wings  and  fly  away,  what  is  the  con- 
clusion ?  Not  '  let  us  drink  and  eat,  for  to-morrow  we 
die ' ;  let  us  build  houses,  and  plant  vineyards  and 
gardens ;  let  us  make  the  most  of  our  brief  term 
of  existence ;    but  '  let  us  fear  God,  and  keep  His 


VIII.]  THE   TWO   VOICES  129 

commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man.' 
If  old  age  will  soon  overtake  us,  '  remember  now  thy 
Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth  ' ;  if  the  grave  is 
shortly  to  close  upon  us, '  whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  it  with  all  thy  might.'  There  is  no  time  to 
be  lost  in  the  few  years  which  remain  to  us ;  out  of 
the  vanity  and  misery  of  human  life  the  Preacher 
extracts  the  lesson  of  duty.  There  is  no  promise  of 
reward,  or  hope  of  present  or  future  happiness  ;  amid 
all  this  worldly  wisdom  and  endless  experience  the 
one  truth  which  remains  unshaken  is  the  eternity  and 
righteousness  of  God :  '  God  will  bring  all  things  into 
judgment,'  and  '  I  know  that  whatsoever  God  doeth 
it  will  be  for  ever.' 

So  strangely  and  discordantly  do  the  two  voices 
sound  in  our  ears — the  one  the  voice  of  the  man  of 
the  world,  passing  in  review  the  occupations  and 
interests  of  men  ;  the  other,  the  deeper  note  which 
is  heard  at  intervals,  reaffirming  the  truth  and  right-, 
eousness  of  God.  No  attempt  is  made  to  harmonize 
them,  though  towards  the  end  of  the  book  the  more 
serious  tone  prevails.  '  Man  dieth  as  the  beast  dieth,' 
and  yet,  '  God  shall  call  every  work  into  judgment, 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad.'  Man  dieth,  or  seems  to 
die,  as  the  beast  dieth,  but  the  spirit  shall  return  to 
God,  who  gave  it.  We  are  fairly  puzzled  by  the 
opposite  points  of  view  which  the  writer  lays  before 
us.  Is  he  a  believer  or  an  unbeliever  ?— a  Hebrew 
Stoic  or  Epicurean,  or  both,  in  his  feeling?     Some- 

K 


I30  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

thing,  perhaps,  is  to  be  allowed  for  the  Hebrew  style, 
which  in  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  as  of  Job,  seems 
unequal  to  the  expression  of  connected  thought.  Had 
the  author  possessed  the  famous  art  of  dialectics,  the 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  might  have  followed 
more  logically  from  the  premises.  He  might  have 
shown  us  in  what  sense  the  world  was  vanity;  in 
what  sense  it  contained  the  hope  or  seed  of  a  future 
life.  Still,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  mind  of  the 
writer  himself  is  alternating  between  darkness  and 
light ;  and  that,  whereas  his  first  thoughts  are,  'AH 
is  vanity  and  monotony,'  his  second  thoughts  are, 
*  Let  us  fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments.' 

We  may  understand  his  position  better  if  we 
transfer  him  to  our  own  time  and  country.  For 
there  have  been  persons  in  all  ages  who  doubt  and 
believe  at  once,  to  whom  the  world  seems  dark 
and  dreary,  the  sport  of  chance  and  fate,  who,  never- 
theless, have  not  laid  aside  their  faith  in  God  and 
immortality.  There  are  two  opposite  sides  in  their 
own  character,  which  are  always  receiving  opposite 
impressions,  so  that  the  one  half  of  them  seems  to 
say  '  No  '  to  the  other  half  Often  they  have  an  eye 
to  see  only  the  evil  and  misery  of  the  world.  Life 
appears  so  short,  so  poor,  so  uninteresting  to  them. 
Such  persons  living  in  the  nineteenth  century  might 
still  repeat  the  text  of  the  Preacher,  'Vanity  of  vanities, 
all  is  vanity.'  When  they  see  the  many  oppressions, 
and  the  little  improvement  of  the  world,  they  might 


viii.]  PESSIMISTIC  VIEWS  131 

think  that  the  poor  cried  in  vain  to  God.  They  would 
not  observe  how  many  of  the  ills  of  life  are  in  our 
own  power  to  make  or  cure.  They  would  not  like  to 
acknowledge  how  many  things  had  actually  improved. 
They  would  take  a  pessimist  view  of  their  own  age 
and  country,  of  their  own  profession  or  University. 
And,  perhaps,  the  more  nearly  things  touched  them, 
the  worse  they  would  seem  to  be.  They  would  remark 
how  one  theory  or  practice  succeeds  another,  in  medi- 
cine, in  law,  in  theology,  and  philosophy;  how  each 
generation  believes  itself  to  be  everything,  and  is 
nothing  ;  how  in  the  drama  of  human  affairs  the  same 
passions  prevail,  the  same  treatment  of  individuals  is 
repeated  again  and  again,  '  the  race  is  not  to  the 
swift ' — meaning,  perhaps,  themselves,  and  '  there  is 
nothing  new  under  the  sun.'  They  would  remark 
that  great  public  benefactors  soon  passed  out  of  re- 
membrance— '  There  was  a  poor  man  who,  by  his 
wisdom,  saved  a  city,  but  no  man  remembered  that 
same  poor  man.'  They  would  tell  us  that  in  all  the 
dreary  waste  of  fashion  and  money-making  there  are 
few  things  better  in  England  than  our  quiet  family 
life.  Observing  the  rapidity  with  which  popular  re- 
ligious movements  succeed  one  another  (which  cannot 
be  all  true,  and  yet  all  equally  claim  a  divine  authority), 
they  would  counsel  moderation  in  religion—'  Be  not 
righteous  overmuch,  and  be  not  wicked  overmuch.' 
As  an  aged  man  of  the  world,  whose  recollections 
went  back  into  the  last  century,  reviewing  his  own 

K  2 


132  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

experiences  of  life,  is  reported  to  have  said,  '  When 
I  was  young  nobody  was  religious,  now  that  I  am  old 
everybody  is  religious ;  and  they  are  bofk  wrong.' 

I  have  given  a  few  illustrations  of  the  habit  of  mind 
which  is  pictured  to  us  in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes. 
It  would  be  called  in  modern  language  scepticism, 
and  is  the  outpouring  of  a  melancholy  which  has 
pondered  deeply  on  human  life.  You  may  say  with 
truth  that  it  is  exaggerated,  and  that  the  opposite  of 
many  things  said  by  the  Preacher  would  have  been  at 
least  equally  true.  To  the  aphorism  that  '  nothing  is 
new  under  the  sun,'  we  may  add  another  aphorism  that 
'  everything  is  new  under  the  sun.'  For  history 
never  repeats  itself  in  the  same  manner,  but  always 
with  a  difference.  Against  the  other  saying,  '  Be  not 
righteous  overmuch,'  we  may  set  the  words  of  the 
Gospel,  '  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
strength.'  Some  of  the  language  of  the  Preacher 
we  may  refute,  if  I  may  say  so,  out  of  his  own 
mouth.  '  Enjoy— do  not  enjoy.'  Wisdom,  too,  is 
vanity,  and  yet  wisdom  exceeds  folly  as  light  exceeds 
darkness.  The  truth  is,  that  the  character  which 
I  have  been  describing  is  singular  and  inconsistent. 
It  is  not  proposed  for  our  imitation,  and  yet  has  some 
points  worthy  of  imitation.  Such  an  one  is  ready  to 
die  in  faith,  and  yet  he  hardly  sees  the  light  beyond. 
He  does  not  pretend  to  reconcile  the  appearances  of 
the  world  with  a  divine  Providence ;  rather,  he  seems 


VIII.]  REVULSION  FROM  PESSIMISM  133 

to  believe  that  human  things  will  go  on  much  as  they 
are  to  the  end  of  time.  Yet  he  is  confident  that  God 
is  righteous,  and  that  somehow,  he  cannot  tell  how, 
somewhere,  he  cannot  tell  where,  he  will  call  every 
work  into  judgment.  The  first  principles  of  right 
and  truth  are  inseparably  bound  up  with  him ;  they 
are  the  anchor  of  his  life — the  only  human  interest  of 
which  he  will  not  say,  '  This  also  is  vanity.'  He 
shows  us  that  the  dreamy  scepticism  does  not  over- 
spread all,  but  that  the  firmest  faith  is  reconcilable  with 
the  slenderest  knowledge  of  the  ways  of  God  to  man. 

And  now  leaving  each  one  to  gather  what  he  can 
from  this  singular  book,  which  may  have  an  affinity 
to  his  own  character,  I  will  return  to  the  simple  words 
of  the  text,  '  Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth,  and 
let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and 
walk  in  the  ways  of  thy  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of 
thine  eyes  ;  but  know  thou,  that  for  all  these  things 
God  will  bring  thee  into  judgment.'  These  words 
I  propose  to  consider  under  two  heads :  first,  the 
blessedness  of  youth ;  secondly,  the  responsibilities  of 
youth. 

We  hardly  think  of  the  blessedness  of  youth  until 
we  look  back  upon  it  in  after  years.  Most  of  those 
who  are  here  present  are  young  now ;  in  ten  years' 
time  they  will  be  no  longer  young,  but  will  have  gone 
their  ways  to  the  business  of  life,  some  to  failure  and 
disappointment,  others  to  new  hopes  and  new  fields 
of  energy  and  usefulness.     No  young  man  can  make 


134  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

the  reflections  in  youth  which  he  will  do  when  he  is 
old.  Of  its  full  value  he  is  hardly  aware,  until  it  has 
passed  away.  Looking  back,  it  seems  such  a  happy 
and  gracious  time,  when  the  world  was  all  before  us, 
and  we  had  visions  of  what  we  would  do  and  be — of 
success  at  the  bar,  of  usefulness  In  the  Church,  of 
accomplishing  some  great  good  to  ourselves  and 
others.  The  memory  easily  goes  back  to  our  first 
school  or  university  distinctions,  which,  perhaps, 
gladdened  a  family,  and  may  sometimes  have  been 
a  light  and  comfort  in  a  great  trouble.  Some  of  us  too 
may  have  felt  keenly  the  pleasures  of  acquiring  know- 
ledge, when  each  new  study  opened  new  interests  to 
us,  and  we  grew  by  what  we  learned.  Happier  still 
if  our  characters  grew  In  proportion  ;  if  with  the 
increase  of  knowledge  came  increased  strength  of 
will  and  right  principle ;  and  at  the  end  of  our 
university  course  we  were  better  men,  and  better 
fitted  for  the  purposes  of  life.  And  I  must  not 
forget  to  speak  of  our  amusements.  First,  there 
was  the  joy  of  health  and  exercise  :  '  when  thou  wast 
young,  thou  girdedst  thyself,  and  walkedst  whither 
thou  wouldest.'  We  wandered  over  hill  and  plain  in 
pleasant  companionship,  now  trying  feats  of  strength 
and  skill,  enduring  hardness  too,  which  gave  a  zest 
to  our  enjoyment.  We  had  no  aches  or  pains  ;  there 
seemed  to  be  no  limit  to  our  health  and  strength. 
Many  of  us  remember  the  first  delightful  impression 
of  a  foreign  country  ;  of  the  snow-peaked  mountains 


VIII.]  BLESSEDNESS  OF  YOUTH  135 

rising-  out  of  the  pines  ;  of  lakes  and  seas  in  some 
southern  clime,  surrounded  by  a  landscape  like  the 
garden  of  Eden,  beneath  the  blue  and  cloudless  sky. 
And  we  have  returned  home  from  foreign  travel,  to 
find  a  charm  and  variety  in  our  native  land  which 
the  fairest  scenes  of  earth  hardly  seem  to  possess. 
If  we  have  eyes  to  see,  we  cannot  come  back  to  this 
place  without  being-  struck  by  its  beauty,  of  which 
we  shall  scarcely  find  the  like  elsewhere,  though  our 
sense  of  it  be  dulled  a  little  by  familiarity.  And  not 
only  ancient  buildings  and  picturesque  scenes  have 
an  interest  for  us,  but  nature  in  every  form,  whether 
adorned  by  the  hand  of  man,  or  left  in  her  own  wild- 
ness,  seems  to  touch  us  with  the  feeling  of  herself 
She  has  a  response  to  every  mood  of  our  own  minds  ; 
her  peacefulness  will  sometimes  soothe  the  aching 
heart  which  cannot  speak  to  others ;  the  songs  and 
sounds  of  a  May  morning  echo  our  joy  as  we  rise, 
full  of  hope,  to  perform  our  daily  task ;  the  melan- 
choly of  autumn,  too,  speaks  to  us  not  unpleasantly 
of  something  in  human  life.  Amid  the  stormy  winds 
on  the  sea-shore  we  feel  ourselves  inspired  with  a  new 
sense  of  power  and  freedom.  And  besides  this  vague 
sympathy  with  nature,  we  may  find  definite  interests 
in  some  class  of  natural  objects,  '  sermons  in  stones,' 
if  in  youth  we  are  careful  to  store  our  minds  with  the 
elementary  knowledge  which  will  tell  us  '  what  to 
observe.'  For  nothing  to  which  we  are  unable  to 
give  a  name  has  any  place  in  memory ;  and  when 


136  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

there  is  no  knowledge  there  is  no  higher  kind  of 
interest.  And  so  the  fairest  and  most  curious  things 
in  the  world  pass  almost  unheeded  before  our  eyes  ; 
and  some  of  the  best  and  purest  pleasures  of  life  are 
lost  to  us. 

When  we  look  back  in  later  years  to  the  days  of 
old  we  remember  another  blessing  which  youth  has 
more  than  any  other  time  of  life — the  blessing  of 
friendship  and  mutual  society.  A  young  man  was 
not  meant  to  be  alone,  but  to  rejoice  w4th  his  fellows ; 
to  have  common  pursuits  and  amusements.  He  is 
naturally  drawn  to  others  and  they  to  him.  He  finds 
them  like  himself,  and  makes  friends  of  them — who, 
if  he  is  of  a  loyal  and  constant  temper,  will  continue 
his  friends  through  life.  Friends  speak  to  one  another 
of  the  different  scenes  in  which  they  have  lived — of 
their  future  hopes  and  prospects ;  one  has  greater 
knowledge  of  the  world,  another  of  books,  and  they 
mutually  delight  and  instruct  one  another.  They 
talk  together  of  politics,  of  religion,  of  ideals  of 
Church  and  State— not,  perhaps,  destined  to  be  real- 
ized. But  whether  they  are  realized  or  not  in  the 
outward  world,  they  may  realize  them  in  their  own 
lives,  and  it  is  better  to  have  had  them  and  be  dis- 
appointed in  them,  than  never  to  have  had  them  at 
all ;  or  they  meet  for  some  purpose  of  study,  to  read 
a  favourite  author,  to  debate  a  disputed  thesis,  to 
arrange  some  business.  To  many  the  walks  about 
this   place  are  full  of  recollections   of  conversations 


VIII.]  SOCIAL  JOYS  OF   YOUTH  137 

which  they  have  had  with  friends,  leaving  an  indelible 
impression  on  the  mind.  Here  we  held  an  argument 
with  one  whom  we  have  not  seen  for  thirty  years ; 
there  again  a  remark  was  made  to  us  which  uncon- 
sciously to  the  speaker  had  a  great  effect  on  our  life 
and  character.  And  many  a  merry  and  characteristic 
jest,  and  many  a  festive  scene,  perhaps,  not  without 
some  natural  exaggeration,  is  recalled  to  our  minds 
when  we  meet  an  old  acquaintance,  and  repeat  the 
thrice-told  tale.  And  some  sadder  thoughts  also 
occur  to  us.  There  have  been  remarkable  men  taken 
away  before  their  time,  of  whom  we  vainly  ask  '  where 
would  they  have  been  if  they  had  been  living  now  .'' ' 
'  Such  an  one  was  almost  the  only  person  who  ever 
tried  to  do  me  any  good,  and  he  is  now  silent  in  his 
grave.'  We  feel  it  a  blessing  to  have  known  such 
men  ;  their  memory  keeps  alive  in  us  a  higher  type 
of  life,  above  the  ordinary  current  of  opinion  or  of 
society.  One  or  two  such  men  are  all  that  we  can 
hope  to  have  in  any  college.  But  even  one  or  two 
such  may  in  their  own  sphere  mould  a  generation. 
They  may  create  intellectual  interests,  they  may  foster 
public  spirit,  they  may  set  a  higher  standard  of  morals 
and  manners.  Their  energy  may  inspire  energy  in 
others ;  their  sympathy  and  power  of  feeling  with 
others  may  be  a  centre  of  friendship,  of  kindness,  of 
good  will.  They  may  feel,  though  young,  that  they 
owe  a  duty  to  society,  and  that  they  do  not  meet 
together  merely  for  their  own  pleasure.     And  some- 


138  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [vu.. 

times,  when  they  see  another  friendless,  or  isolated, 
they  will  draw  him  back  again  into  the  world,  and 
endeavour  to  remedy  the  evils  which  false  pride  or 
over-sensitiveness  may  have  occasioned. 

The  four  years  which  we  spend  at  the  University 
are  generally  the  most  important,  as  they  may  be  the 
happiest,  of  our  lives.  Long  aftenvards  they  stand 
out  from  the  rest,  for  the  memory  of  our  own  youth 
is  associated  with  them  ;  we  have  more  to  tell  of  them, 
and  they  have  a  deeper  hold  on  our  minds.  Here  we 
meet  for  the  first  time  on  a  common  stage,  before  we 
part  company  again  in  our  several  pursuits.  Here 
we  first  become  our  owm  masters,  more  free  to  think 
and  to  act  than  we  ever  were  before.  Here  we  find 
a  great  variety  of  characters,  and  are  introduced  to  all 
classes  and  opinions.  There  is  nothing  narrow  or 
exclusive  in  the  life  of  this  place.  The  rich  man  is 
not  esteemed  for  his  riches,  and  the  poor  man  receives 
a  generous  welcome.  Every  one  who  has  any  natural 
kindness  or  courtesy  in  him,  and  who  is  not  too  much 
haunted  by  the  thought  of  self,  may  gather  pleasant 
friends  around  him.  The  pulse  of  youth  beats  through 
the  whole  society;  and,  although  we  know  that  we 
may  have  many  and  serious  faults,  may  we  not  also 
hope  to  find  here  some  virtues  which  do  not  equally 
flourish  in  the  larger  world,  such  as  disinterestedness, 
warm-heartedness,  freedom  from  jealousy  and  mean- 
ness, disregard  of  mere  rank  or  wealth,  a  generous 
admiration  of  others  ? 


VIII.]         ACQUISITION  OF  KNOWLEDGE  139 

Once  more :  there  is  another  blessing  or  gift  which 
3'outh  enjo3^s  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  later  life — 
the  gift  of  acquiring  knowledge.  To  those  who  have 
any  taste  for  it,  stud}'  is  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures. 
They  take  an  interest  in  their  work,  and  this  is  also 
the  surest  sign  of  their  improvement  in  it ;  they  delight 
to  feel  not  merely  that  they  are  adding  to  their  stores, 
but  that  new  powers  of  mind  are  being  awakened  in 
them.  They  love  the  great  and  simple  ideas  of  the 
ancient  poets,  historians,  and  philosophers  ;  to  a  few, 
even  the  study  of  the  ancient  languages  has  an  extra- 
ordinary^ charm.  When  men  find  study  a  weariness 
to  the  flesh,  this  seems  to  arise  either  from  some 
deficiency  in  early  education,  or  from  the  choice  of 
a  subject  which  is  ill  suited  to  their  natural  capacity- ; 
or  not  unfrequently  from  over-exertion  of  the  mind. 
For  if  the  student  is  to  have  this  freedom  and  joy  of 
which  I  am  speaking,  he  must  be  above  his  work  ;  he 
must  keep  his  head  clear  and  be  master  of  his  faculties, 
not  ovenvorking  them,  but  rather  setting  a  limit  to 
his  exertions  ;  for  so  only  will  he  have  the  true  use 
of  them. 

The  recollection  of  the  blessings  of  3'outh  makes 
some  of  us  wish  that  we  could  be  3'oung  again.  I  do 
not  say  this,  for  to  ever^^thing  there  is  a  time,  as  the 
Preacher  also  tells  us.  And  long  after  the  days  of 
our  youth  have  passed  away  we  ma^-  hope  that  the 
spirit  of  youth  may  still  animate  us,  and  the  com- 
panionship of  youth  may  renew  and  refresh  us.     But 


I40  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

it  is  a  sad  thing  never  to  have  had  a  youth  or  to  have 
made  no  good  use  of  it.  For  youth  is  the  foundation 
of  manhood.  It  will  never  come  back  to  us,  and  we 
can  never  be  in  this  world  what  we  might  have  been, 
if  we  have  lost  or  wasted  it.  The  happiness,  too,  of 
early  life  depends  upon  its  innocency ;  we  cannot 
rejoice  in  idleness,  or  in  self-indulgence,  or  in  sin. 
The  voice  of  conscience  is  heard  accusing  us  of  things 
which  we  would  rather  not  have  known  or  spoken 
about.  And  in  some  cases  this  shame  and  sorrow 
in  our  lives  may  be  accompanied  by  doubts  about 
religious  truths,  which  in  the  present  day,  owing  to 
the  circumstances  of  our  age,  often  beset  susceptible 
minds  (and  sometimes  the  best  among  us),  and  we 
become  unhappy  and  unsettled.  Then  we  hardly 
know  the  meaning  of  the  words  '  Rejoice,  O  young 
man,  in  thy  youth,'  for  youth  is  not  a  time  of  joy  but 
of  sadness  to  us.  And  there  may  be  other  causes, 
partly  real,  partly  imaginary,  such  as  poverty,  or 
family  difficulties,  or  dishonour,  or  the  want  of  health 
to  accomplish  what  is  expected  of  us,  or  even  shyness, 
which  unduly  depresses  a  sensitive  mind. 

These  reflections  lead  me  to  speak  to  you  of  the 
responsibilities  of  youth,  both  lesser  and  greater ;  or 
rather,  I  should  say,  of  some  of  them,  as  they  occur 
to  me,  in  the  short  time  that  remains.  They  are  the 
correlatives  of  the  happiness  of  youth  which  I  was 
describing.  We  could  do  so  much  for  ourselves,  if 
we  only  thought  about  it,  and  knew  the  way.     For 


vi:i.]         RESPONSIBILITIES   OF  YOUTH  141 

although  there  are  some  things  which  are  beyond  us, 
and  which  we  must  leave  in  the  hands  of  God,  yet  to 
most  of  us,  two-thirds,  or  I  may  say  three -fourths,  of 
life  are  in  our  own  power,  for  good  or  evil,  for  happi- 
ness or  the  reverse. 

Among  the  responsibilities  of  youth  which  I  hardly 
know  whether  to  call  greater  or  lesser,  for  it  is  ver}^^ 
great  if  we  consider  the  consequences  and  the  punish- 
ment, but  not  so  great  if  we  think  only  of  the  moral 
fault  of  neglecting  it,  is  the  care  of  health.  It  is 
a  duty  of  which  we  hardly  think,  and  had  better  not 
talk  :  it  is  one  at  which  we  may  sometimes  be  disposed 
to  laugh.  For  in  youth  most  of  us  have  health  enough 
and  to  spare,  and  we  cannot  look  forward  thirty  or 
forty  years  to  a  time  when  the  remains  of  it  may  have 
to  be  husbanded.  We  do  not  keep  before  our  minds 
life  as  a  whole,  in  which  there  are  many  things  to  be 
done  requiring  our  whole  strength,  or  remember  that 
there  is  one  condition  of  success  in  any  business  or 
profession,  and  that  is  good  health.  And  in  almost 
every  case  it  is  in  our  own  power  to  secure  this. 
I  suppose  that  if  by  any  process  of  diet  or  exercise 
we  could  double  our  muscular  strength,  the  imagina- 
tion of  any  young  man  would  be  fired  with  a  desire 
to  obtain  this  new  development  of  his  powers,  that 
he  might  excel  others  in  feats  of  skill  and  strength. 
We  cannot  do  this,  but  we  can  do  the  other.  We 
cannot  by  taking  thought  add  one  cubit  to  our 
stature  ;  but  we  can  improve  the  body  for  the  service 


142  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

of  the  mind,  we  can  get  rid  of  headaches  and  nervous- 
ness, we  can  preserve  the  memory,  we  can  lessen  the 
waste  of  Hfe  by  introducing-  order  and  regularity  into 
it.  Some  of  us  appear  to  be  very  ignorant  of  the 
first  laws  of  our  physical  well-being  ;  we  have  hardly 
learned  the  lesson  of  self-control  in  eating  and  drinking, 
of  which  the  excess  leads  to  very  serious  evils,  both 
mental  and  moral.  We  do  not  see  that  the  mind  is 
dependent  upon  the  body,  and  we  sometimes  over- 
work both  at  once.  Does  anybody  really  suppose 
that  the  pleasing  excitement  of  late  hours  makes  the 
mind  stronger  or  better ;  or  that  the  tired  intellect 
gains  any  power  from  the  food  which  it  is  unable  to 
digest  ?  Those  who  have  experience  of  such  maladies 
know  very  well  that  the  tendency  to  overwork  is  not 
a  sign  of  energy,  or  even  of  industry,  but  of  weakness, 
and  that  the  temptation  is  often  the  strongest  at  the 
very  time  when  the  faculties  are  most  in  need  of 
repose.  The  mind  which  is  overtasked  cannot  be 
cured  by  exertion,  its  efforts  are  only  powerless 
dreams.  But  though  '  heaviness  may  endure  for 
a  night,  joy  cometh  in  the  morning.'  The  thought 
that  no  effort  can  arrange,  the  hopeless  tangle  of 
words  and  facts,  after  a  few  hours'  sleep  finds  without 
an  effort  an  order  and  arrangement  of  its  own.  When 
the  ground  has  been  fallow  for  a  time  the  seed  will 
begin  to  grow  again.  The  true  test  of  intellectual 
progress  is  not  acquisition,  but  the  increase  of  the 
powers  of  the  mind  ;  not  how  much  we  know,  but 


VIII.]      MISTAKES  AND  SINS   OF  YOUTH        143 

how  we  can  think,  write,  converse,  act.  These  are 
hints  commonplace  enough,  yet  no  longer  common- 
place when  we  begin  to  apply  them  to  our  lives.  For 
every  one  must  be  his  own  physician,  and  what  is 
necessary  for  one  may  not  be  equally  required  by 
another.  Let  me  sum  up  all  in  these  words  of  the 
Apostle :  '  Therefore,  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatever  we  do,  let  us  do  all  for  the  glory  of 
God.' 

And  besides  mere  irregularities,  which  are  chiefly 
culpable  for  the  consequences  which  they  entail,  there 
are  sins,  too,  of  many  kinds  which  greatly  impair 
health.  They  darken  life,  they  destroy  self-respect, 
they  are  fatal  to  strength  and  manliness  of  character. 
In  after  years  the  recollection  of  them  casts  a  dark 
shadow  on  the  brightness  of  our  youth,  Vv^hich  is  never, 
perhaps,  entirely  effaced.  Some  of  them  are  known 
to  ourselves  and  God  only — and  there  I  shall  leave 
them ;  no  one  has  a  right  to  pry  into  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  others.  But  if  among  those  here  pre- 
sent there  are  any  who  are  beset  by  such  temptations, 
I  would  ask  them  to  think  of  themselves  sometimes 
as  in  the  presence  of  God,  with  whom  there  is  no 
darkness  or  concealment,  to  remember  their  homes 
and  their  parents,  to  whom,  far  away,  though  they 
do  not  speak  of  these  subjects,  this  is,  probably,  one 
of  the  most  real  trials  of  life ;  to  carry  their  minds 
forwards  a  few  years,  and  think  of  the  effect  upon 
their  own  future  happiness ;  and  by  ever^^  means  in 


144  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

their  power,  by  prayer,  by  moderation,  by  manly 
resolution,  to  free  themselves  from  the  tyranny  and 
misery  of  sensual  passion. 

Once  more,  the  life  of  happiness  cannot  be  a  life  of 
idleness.  Even  young  children,  when  they  do  no- 
thing- but  play,  grow  listless  and  weary  of  themselves, 
though  they  hardly  know  the  reason.  Much  more 
does  life  in  after  years  become  tasteless  and  insipid, 
if  we  have  no  higher  interests,  political,  social, 
religious,  nothing  to  think  or  speak  about  but  the 
gossip  of  the  day,  the  last  new  story,  the  ever  re- 
curring tale  of  sport.  It  is  half  a  life,  or  rather, 
much  less  than  half  at  best.  For  the  higher  converse 
of  men  and  women  with  one  another  implies  cultiva- 
tion of  mind ;  and  there  can  hardly  be  cultivation  of 
mind  without  study.  When  we  have  grown  up  with- 
out education,  either  through  our  own  fault  or  that 
of  others,  we  find  that  we  are  not  only  ill-formed,  but 
that  we  are  incapable  of  learning,  or  can  only  learn 
with  difficulty,  and  that  from  our  want  of  mental 
training  we  are  unfitted  for  any  intelligent  profession. 
As  the  Preacher  tells  us,  there  is  a  time  for  all  things, 
a  time  to  learn,  and  a  time  to  use  our  knowledge,  and 
if  we  have  thrown  away  the  years  between  twenty 
and  twenty -five  we  can  hardly  recover  them.  Besides, 
what  a  sham  it  is  to  come  up  here  as  students,  at 
a  great  cost  to  others,  and  then  to  make  the  chief 
business  of  our  lives  not  study  but  amusement,  so  that 
at  the  end  of  three  or  four  years  we  go  away,  not 


VIII.]  WORK  IN  LIFE  145 

much  better,  but  rather  worse,  than  we  came  up. 
What  account  can  we  give  of  such  a  waste  of  time 
and  opportunities,  of  the  best  gifts  of  God,  to  our- 
sehxs  and  to  Him  ?  '  For  God  requireth  that  which 
is  past.' 

Therefore,  'Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do, 
do  it  with  all  thy  might ' ;  be  earnest  in  study,  be 
earnest  also  in  your  amusements,  for  something  of 
seriousness  may  without  impropriety  mingle  also 
with  them.  Life  is  short,  and  each  stage  of  it  is 
apt  to  come  to  an  end  before  the  work  which  belongs 
to  it  is  finished.  I  will  not  add  the  reason  which  the 
Preacher  gives,  '  For  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the  grave  whither  thou 
goest.'  But  rather,  because  we  believe  this  life  to  be 
the  beginning  of  another,  into  which  we  carr}^  with 
us  what  we  have  been  and  done  here  ;  because  we 
are  working  together  with  God,  and  He  is  upholding 
us  in  our  work ;  because,  when  the  hour  of  death 
approaches,  we  should  wish  to  think,  like  Christ, 
that  we  have  completed  life,  that  we  have  finished 
the  work  which  was  given  us,  that  we  have  not  lost 
one  of  those  who  were  entrusted  to  us. 

And  now,  for  the  words  '  Rejoice,  O  young  man, 
in  thy  youth,'  I  will  venture  to  substitute  other 
words,  'Rejoice,  whether  young  or  old,  in  the  service 
of  God ' ;  rejoice  in  the  beauty  of  this  world,  in  its 
fair  scenes,  in  its  great  interests,  in  the  hope  and 
promise  of  knowledge.     Rejoice  in  the  thought   of 

L 


146  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [viii. 

another  life  to  which  as  we  grow  older  we  are  draw- 
ing nearer.  Rejoice  in  the  companionship  and  affec- 
tion of  others,  in  the  home  to  which  no  place  can 
compare,  in  the  friends  whom  nothing  but  death  can 
part.  Rejoice  in  the  dead,  more  happy  than  the 
living,  not  as  the  Preacher  says  because  they  are 
without  sense,  but  because  '  they  are  in  the  hands  of 
God,  and  there  shall  no  evil  touch  them.'  Rejoice 
in  the  work  which  God  has  given  us  to  do  here, 
knowing  that  it  is  His  work,  and  the  preparation 
for  a  higher,  which  we  shall  carry  on  far  beyond 
what  we  are  capable  of  thinking  or  imagining  at 
present.  Rejoice  that  we  have  got  rid  of  the  burden 
of  selfishness,  and  egotism,  and  conceit,  and  those 
littlenesses  and  meannesses,  which  drag  us  down  to 
earth,  that  our  consciences  are  as  the  noonday  clear, 
that  w^e  do  not  willingly  allow  ourselves  in  any  sin. 
Rejoice  that  we  are  at  peace,  and  can  be  resigned 
to  the  will  of  God,  whatever  it  may  have  in  store 
for  us.  Rejoice  that  we  can  live  no  longer  for  our- 
selves, but  for  God  and  our  fellow-men.  Rejoice,  too, 
in  the  truth,  whatever  that  may  be,  which  is  slowly 
unveiling  itself  before  our  eyes,  for  God  is  truth,  and 
every  addition  to  truth  is  an  addition  to  our  know- 
ledge of  Him.  He  will  purge  away  the  mists  that 
environ  us,  and  give  us  clearness,  and  '  the  mind 
through  all  her  powers  irradiate.'  Rejoice  last  of  all 
in  the  love  of  Christ,  who  gave  Himself  for  us,  and 
in  the  love  of  all  other  men  who,  bearing  His  image. 


VIII.]    JOY  IN  GOD  AND  ETERNAL  HOPE       147 

have  sacrificed  themselves  for  the  good  of  others. 
And,  to  sum  up  all,  in  the  language  of  the  Apostle, 
*  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always,  and  again  I  say  rejoice.' 

This  is  that  other  voice  which  we  hear  in  the 
Gospel  inviting  us  to  love  and  peace  and  joy  in 
the  presence  of  God,  unlike  that  barren  voice  with 
which  we  communed  for  awhile  in  a  passing  mood. 
The  ecstasy  of  the  Apostle  may  seem  to  us  a  dream 
only  ;  it  may  seem  also  to  be  the  truest  of  all  things. 
But  whether  we  are  able  altogether  to  receive  the 
words  of  the  Gospel,  or  not,  we  may  find  something 
in  them  applicable  to  our  own  lives  which  may  help 
to  raise  us  out  of  the  world  in  which  we  mostly  live 
into  that  of  which  Christ  speaks  to  us. 


L  2 


IX 


'  REJOICE  WITH  THEM  THA  T  REJOICE,  AND  WEEP 

WITH    THEM   THAT    WEEP.       BE   OF   ONE   MIND    ONE 

TOWARDS   ANOTHER.  o  ..  ^ 

Romans  xii.  15,  16. 

A  DISTINGUISHED  philosopher  of  the  last  century 
has  endeavoured  to  show  that  all  our  moral  ideas  are 
ultimately  to  be  referred  to  the  principle  of  sympathy. 
He  says  that  most  of  our  actions,  if  we  analyse 
them,  flow  from  the  desire  to  please  others,  or  to 
obtain  their  approval,  or  agreement,  or  assent.  The 
light-hearted  word  expects  to  meet  with  a  friendly 
response ;  the  serious  remark  to  be  treated  with 
seriousness  ;  the  jest  falls  flatly  unless  it  creates  a  laugh. 
At  every  turn  of  life  and  in  mere  trifles  we  need  the 
co-operation  and  conversation  of  others.  And  in  our 
greater  sorrows  and  joys  we  desire  that  other  men 
should  share  our  feelings  w4th  us,  and  that  we  should 
have  the  benefit  of  their  sympathy  and  counsel.  And 
men  and  women,  knowing  how  dependent  they  are 
themselves  on  the  kindness  of  others,  are  not  unwilling 
to  give  what  they  desire  to  receive,  and  sometimes 
they  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  a  friend  and 
think  :    '  That  sorrow  might  have  been  my  sorrow,' 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  January,  1879. 


ADAM  SMITH'S   THEORY  OF  MORALS      149 

'  that  wrong  may  be  some  day  inflicted  on  me,'  '  that 
illness  may  set  its  mark  upon  me ' ;  so  fear  for  our- 
selves, and  love  for  ourselves,  and  resentment  about 
ourselves,  is  supposed  to  raise  in  our  hearts  a  corre- 
sponding feeling  about  the  joys,  sorrows,  and  wrongs 
of  some  one  else. 

But  then  human  nature  is  so  constituted  that  we 
feel  for  ourselves  much  more  than  for  others  ;  for 
those  who  are  present  more  than  for  those  who  are 
absent ;  for  the  wrong  in  suffering  which  is  recent, 
more  than  for  that  which  is  a  tale  of  the  olden  time. 
A  toothache,  an  earache,  a  fit  of  the  gout,  causes  much 
more  pain  and  disquietude  to  those  who  are  afflicted  by 
them,  than  the  destruction  by  famine  of  many  millions 
of  men  in  the  remote  regions  of  India  or  China,  and 
this  would  be  more  apparent  if  grown-up  men  and 
women,  like  children,  were  in  the  habit  of  expressing 
all  they  feel  about  their  bodily  aches  and  pains.  On 
the  other  hand,  most  considerate  persons  would  con- 
fess that  we  say  and  think  too  much  of  ourselves 
and  far  too  little  of  those  greater  and  more  general 
calamities,  a  famine,  or  an  earthquake,  or  a  mining 
explosion  with  which  a  distant  country  or  locality 
may  be  visited.  What  affects  us  in  our  own  persons 
creates  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  on  our  minds, 
and  what  affects  our  families  or  beloved  friends  is  still 
near  to  us,  but  what  affects  India  or  China  is  soon 
forgotten  and  scarcely  ruffles  the  equable  current  of 
our   lives.      Therefore,   says   our   moralist,  we   must 


I50  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

lower  the  pitch  of  our  feelings  about  ourselves  until 
we  bring  them  down  to  such  a  point  that  active  men 
can  feel  with  us ;  and  we  must  raise  the  pitch  of  our 
feelings  about  others  until  in  some  degree  they  keep 
time  and  tune  with  the  feelings  of  the  sufferers. 
This  is  the  law  of  sympathy,  the  meeting-point  of  the 
love  of  self  and  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  out  of 
which  flow  all  the  gentler  virtues.  And  not  only  the 
gentler  virtues,  such  as  benevolence  and  compassion, 
but  the  sterner,  such  as  justice,  are  based  upon  a 
similar  compromise.  The  resentment  which  a  savage 
feels  at  an  injury  or  an  insult  is  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  wrong  which  he  has  suffered.  But  before  the 
savage  society  can  become  a  civilized  one,  this  wild 
passion  must  be  reduced  within  limits  by  the  opinion 
and  reason  of  other  men ;  and  so  out  of  resentment  in 
the  bosom  of  the  savage  is  slowly  developed  in  the 
civilized  world  the  empire  of  justice.  The  merit  and 
demerit  of  actions  again  are  said  to  flow  from  the  grati- 
tude or  resentment  which  they  arouse  in  him  who  is 
the  object  of  them ;  and  here  again  the  individual 
sentiment  is  limited  and  corrected  by  that  of  the  world 
at  large.  You  see,  I  think,  by  this  time  the  general 
character  of  the  system  which  I  am  trying  to  explain. 
It  may  be  described,  like  another  famous  system,  as 
making  virtues  consist  in  a  mean  between  excess  and 
defect,  the  too  great  regard  for  self  being  the  excess, 
the  too  little  regard  for  our  neighbour  being  the 
defect.     I  will  not  further  detain  you  by  attempting  to 


IX.]  SYMPATHY  AND  MORALITY  151 

show  how  this  author  supports  his  account  of  human 
action  by  the  doctrine  of  utihty,  or  how  much  he  is 
wining  to  concede  to  the  force  of  habit  and  custom. 

Such  is  the  famous  theory  of  the  moral  sentiments 
first  put  forward  by  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  in  the  year 
1 759,  six  years  before  his  greater  and  better-known 
work  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  It  has  a  special 
interest  for  us  here,  because  the  author  of  these  two 
treatises  was  an  undergraduate  of  this  college,  residing 
here  as  a  Snell  Exhibitioner  for  seven  years,  between 
1740  and  1747.  Like  similar  theories  which  rest 
morality  on  abstract  principles  such  as  benevolence, 
self-love,  utility,  it  draws  attention  to  facts  which 
might  otherwise  have  escaped  notice ;  and  it  lights 
up  some  obscure  places  in  human  nature.  It  is 
interesting  and  curious,  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  afford 
an  adequate  explanation  of  the  moral  nature  of  man. 
Which  of  us,  if  he  interrogates  his  own  breast,  is 
conscious,  that  when  he  sorrows  for  another  he  is 
fearing  or  imagining  a  similar  sorrow  affecting  him- 
self, or  fancying,  when  he  rejoices  with  another,  that 
a  like  happiness  may  be  one  day  in  store  for  him  ? 
Which  of  us  really  sorrows  for  the  misfortunes  of 
another  as  If  they  were  his  own  ?  Such  unity  of 
feeling  may  exist  in  a  very  few  relations  of  life,  say, 
for  example,  in  the  case  of  a  mother  and  son,  but 
generally  this  absolute  identity  of  sorrow  or  joy  is  not 
within  the  compass  of  human  nature ;  It  may  be  felt 
for  a  few  hours  or  days,  but  it  bears  no  proportion 


152  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

to  the  whole  of  Hfe.  Sympathy,  though  one  of  the 
most  universally  diffused,  is  not  one  of  the  strongest 
elements  of  human  nature :  ambition  in  greater  minds, 
jealousy  in  lesser  ones,  are  often  more  influential. 
Like  other  theories  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
theory  of  the  moral  sentiments  errs  in  attempting 
to  reduce  to  a  simple  principle  what  is  essentially 
multiform  and  complex.  It  regards  men  as  indi- 
viduals, not  as  the  members  of  a  society,  and  views 
them  in  one  aspect  only.  To  the  author  of  this 
theory,  as  to  most  of  his  contemporaries,  the  influence 
of  language  or  of  literature,  the  power  which  the 
human  mind  has  of  forming  ideals  of  truth  and  life, 
the  very  conception  of  an  education  of  the  human 
race,  seem  to  have  been  foreign,  and  never  to  have 
come  within  the  range  of  their  philosophy. 

Without  assuming  sympathy  to  be  the  basis  of 
morality,  we  yet  may  truly  allow  it  to  hold  a  very 
important  place  in  the  economy  of  human  action,  and 
in  what  remains  of  this  sermon,  I  propose  to  consider 
it  not  as  a  principle  of  philosophy,  but  as  what  we  all 
know  and  feel,  the  natural  power  or  gift  which  draws 
men's  hearts  to  one  another,  and  makes  them  under- 
stand one  another,  which  divides  their  sorrows  and 
increases  their  joys.  It  is  liable  to  abuse  also,  and 
even  in  its  best  form  falls  short  of  that  higher 
sympathy  which  we  look  for  in  the  heavens.  And 
first  I  shall  speak  to  you  of  its  nature  and  limits ; 
secondly,  of  the  danger  which  arises  from  the  excess 


IX.]  IMPORTANCE   OF  SYMPATHY  153 

of  too  great  indulgence  of  it ;  and  thirdly,  of  that 
higher  sympathy  which  the  best  men  and  women 
only  are  capable  of  feeling  towards  one  another,  such 
sympathy  as  saints  and  apostles  felt  towards  the 
suffering  and  ignorant,  such  as  Christ  felt  towards  His 
disciples,  which  is  to  us  the  earthly  image  of  the 
love  of  God  towards  all  mankind. 

The  most  natural  idea  that  we  form  of  sympathy  is 
sympathy  with  sorrow.  In  times  of  affliction,  when  we 
see  the  young  and  the  fair  sinking  into  a  premature 
grave;  or  when,  through  some  business  transaction, 
persons  are  suddenly  plunged  from  comfort  and 
affluence  into  want  and  hardship,  then  others  do 
really  feel  for  them ;  and  often  a  kindness  almost 
unsuspected  hitherto  is  revealed  in  some  reserv^ed  and 
self-contained  nature.  But  then  what  are  we  to  say 
to  them,  and  how  are  we  to  relieve  them  ?  I  suppose 
that  every  one  called  to  minister  to  a  friend  who  has 
lost  a  wife  or  child  must  have  felt  this  difficulty. 
Our  words  are  so  poor  and  cold  compared  with  the 
intensity  of  their  sorrow,  who  seem  to  have  lost  their  all 
in  this  world.  The  poet  warns  us  against  the  common- 
places of  consolation — 

.     .     .     .     '  that  "  Other  friends  remain," 
That  "Loss  is  common  to  the  race" — 
And  common  is  the  commonplace, 

And  vacant  chaff  well  meant  for  grain.' 

And  yet  another  poet  tells  us — 

'  That  consolation's  sources  deeper  are 
Than  sorrow's  deepest ' ; 


154  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

and  an  old  proverb  also  says  that '  Sorrows  when  past 
are  converted  into  blessings.'  But  how  are  we  to  escape 
from  the  commonplace  ?  First,  we  can  give  our  friend 
our  sincere  feelings  ;  we  can  make  him  feel  that  he  is 
at  home  with  us  in  his  sorrow,  that  he  can  talk  to  us 
about  it ;  and  the  mere  expression  of  sorrow  is  doubt- 
less a  relief  The  simple  affection  of  the  child,  grieved 
at  seeing  others  grieve,  is  the  best  and  purest  image 
of  this  as  of  some  other  human  feelings.  But  the 
sufferer  seems  to  require  something  more  than  simple 
affection.  He  wants  to  realize  what  he  is  himself  half 
inclined  to  believe,  that  in  all  sorrow  there  is  an 
element  of  good,  and  that  his  loss  was  intended  for  his 
improvement  and  education,  just  as  all  evil  seems  to 
be  a  part  of  the  education  of  the  world ;  that  this  sick- 
ness was  not  merely  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of 
God,  and  that  in  some  way  or  other  all  things  are 
working  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God. 
He  needs  to  be  reminded  that  this  above  all  others  is 
the  way  in  which  the  departed  spirit  would  desire  that 
his  or  her  memory  should  speak  to  him.  He  requires 
to  be  raised  above  himself  and  above  the  world,  but 
not  into  a  region  of  hopes  and  fancies ;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  has  to  be  brought  back  into  actual  life. 

And  equally  about  calamities  of  a  different  kind, 
such  as  the  loss  of  fortune,  which  are  in  some  respects 
more  severe  because  they  cannot  be  healed  by  time ; 
the  sufferer  should  be  made  to  feel  that  even  out  of 
this  most  trying  form  of  sorrow,  because   affecting 


IX.]  SYMPATHY  IN  SUFFERING  155 

others  whom  we  love  as  well  as  ourselves,  still  some 
good  may  be  elicited.  He  must  be  taught  by  them  to 
be  more  dependent  on  himself  and  more  independent 
of  the  opinion  of  others  ;  that  he  must  deserv^e  help 
and  then  he  will  receive  it ;  above  all,  that  he  must  be 
up  and  doing,  and  that  if  he  feels  his  sorrows  like  a 
man,  he  must  act  like  a  man.  And  what  is  to  be  said 
of  another  kind  of  sorrow,  trouble  of  mind,  perhaps 
arising  from  bodily,  perhaps  from  moral  causes,  which 
seems  of  all  sorrows  the  most  in  need  of  help  and  the 
most  incapable  of  being  helped  1  I  will  not  reply, 
'There  the  patient  must  minister  to  himself.'  For 
indeed  the  counsel  of  another  may  do  much  for  him  ; 
it  may  arouse  new  interests  in  him ;  it  may  enable 
him  to  see  his  rooted  sorrow  or  fixed  idea  in  truer 
proportions,  it  may  help  and  deliver  him  from  him- 
self. The  kind  word  of  a  friend,  like  a  strain  of  music, 
may  drive  away  the  evil  spirit  for  a  time.  It  is  a  great 
thing  if  in  his  suffering  he  can  be  made  to  feel  that 
he  must  keep  the  mind  above  the  body,  and  that  the 
melancholy  to  which  he  has  fallen  a  prey  may  be  in 
reality  due  to  some  trifling  physical  cause. 

But  now  to  be  able  to  communicate  any  relief  to 
others  we  must  have  that  in  ourselves  which  will  gain 
their  confidence.  Children  cling  to  grown  up  per- 
sons because  they  are  stronger  and  know  more  than 
themselves ;  and  so  in  later  life  we  look  up  to  and 
depend  upon  the  stronger  natures,  the  larger  heart, 
the  deeper  feeHng.     There  are  some  persons  to  whom 


156  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

every  sufferer  instinctively  turns,  knowing  that  they 
are  sure  to  receive  the  considerate  word,  the  kind 
wish,  the  helpful  service  from  them.  There  are  some 
persons  whose  characters  seem  to  acquire  a  new 
power  and  beauty  amid  scenes  of  suffering  and  of 
death.  There  are  a  few  who  have  found  a  satisfac- 
tion, which  nothing  else  on  earth  could  have  given 
them,  in  alleviating  the  sufferings  of  others.  But 
most  of  us  when  we  seek  to  console  others,  find  this 
difficulty ;  that  we  really  do  not  feel  enough  about 
them,  especially  when  they  are  out  of  our  sight,  to 
justify  us  In  expressing  much  sorrow ;  for  we  do  not 
like  to  say  what  we  do  not  feel.  So  shallow  does 
human  nature  sometimes  seem  when  tried  by  any 
severer  test ;  so  poor  do  our  own  characters  appear 
to  many  of  us,  when  we  compare  the  regard  which  we 
have  for  ourselves  with  the  regard  which  we  extend 
to  others. 

Sympathy  In  suffering  and  trial  Is  the  most 
obvious  example  of  community  of  feeling;  but  there 
are  many  other  forms,  of  which  I  have  only  time  to 
enumerate  one  or  two.  There  is  the  sympathy  of 
a  general  with  his  soldiers,  though  he  is  placed  in 
a  position  In  which  even  the  ordinary  feelings  of 
mankind  have  to  be  sternly  suppressed.  The  Iron 
man  upon  whom  the  fate  of  nations  depends,  under 
his  armour  may  conceal  a  heart  like  that  of  a  child 
or  a  woman.  He  may  feel  for  the  hardships  and 
sufferings  of  his  soldiers;    he   may  know  and  care 


IX.]  SYMPATHY  OF  TEACHERS  157 

for  them  individually  ;  he  may  see  that  justice  is  done 
to  them,  and  that  they  are  not  defrauded  or  cheated 
by  others.  And  as  surely  as  the  word  of  command 
passes  through  the  ranks  to  the  extremity  of  the 
army,  so  surely  does  the  suppressed  feeling  in  the 
breast  of  their  general  vibrate  through  the  heart  of 
every  man  who  is  under  his  command:  so  mighty 
is  the  power  of  kindness  in  this  world  even  amid 
scenes  of  blood  and  on  a  field  of  battle.  We  have 
read  in  history  of  some  for  whom  men  would  have 
been  willing  to  sacrifice  their  lives  ;  of  commanders 
like  him  whose  signal,  'that  England  expects  every 
man  to  do  his  duty,'  gave  new  force  to  his  soldiers 
or  sailors  ;  whose  loss  is  personally  mourned  by  them 
and  by  a  whole  nation  like  the  death  of  a  brother 
or  of  a  friend. 

Yet  one  other  form,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
forms,  of  sympathy,  may  be  naturally  considered  by 
us  in  this  place, — the  sympathy  of  the  teacher  with 
the  pupil.  Some  persons  may  never  have  understood 
that  teaching  has  anything  to  do  with  sympathy. 
The  gifts  which  they  look  for  in  the  teacher,  are 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  clearness  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  materials,  power  of  illustration,  accuracy, 
diligence,  nor  can  any  one  be  a  good  teacher  in 
whom  these  qualities  are  wanting.  And  yet  much 
more  than  this  is  required.  For  the  young  have  to 
be  educated  through  the  heart  as  well  as  the  head ; 
the  subtle  influence  of  the  teacher's  character,  his  love 


158  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

of  truth,  his  disinterestedness,  his  zeal  for  knowledge, 
should  imperceptibly  act  upon  them.  Dry  light,  with- 
out any  tincture  of  the  affections,  may  truly  under 
a  figure  describe  science.  Of  teaching  it  would  be 
truer  to  say  that  it  must  be  clothed  in  the  language 
of  affection  and  enthusiasm,  that  it  must  be  warm  as 
well  as  light.  Further,  the  relation  of  a  teacher  is 
a  personal  one,  and  human  beings  are  much  more 
easily  led  by  feeling  than  by  reason.  He  who  is 
capable  of  taking  an  Interest  in  each  of  his  pupils 
Individually ;  who  by  a  sympathetic  power  can  reach 
what  is  working  In  their  hearts  or  perplexing  their 
understanding ;  who  has  such  a  feeling  for  them  that 
he  has  acquired  the  right  to  say  anything  to  them, 
has  In  him  the  elements  of  a  great  teacher.  He  will 
be  sanguine  about  them  too,  because  he  feels  con- 
fident in  what  he  and  they  by  a  perfect  understanding 
of  one  another  can  jointly  accomplish.  And  in 
general  to  think  better  of  mankind  than  they  always 
deserve  is  a  safe  as  well  as  a  generous  rule  In  the 
conduct  of  life ;  most  men  have  some  virtues  which 
are  not  recognized  at  first  sight,  and  a  degree  of 
intelligence  which  requires  to  be  drav/n  out.  And 
generous  feeling  in  an  elder  Is  sure  to  be  met  by 
generous  response  In  a  younger  person.  Let  the 
teacher  now  in  middle  and  later  life  remember  the 
trials  of  his  own  youth,  some  real,  so  many  fanciful, 
and  think  what  he  would  have  given  for  a  healing 
word  of  comfort,  or  of  sympathy ;  what  sort  of  advice 


IX.]  ABUSES  OF  SYMPATHY  159 

would  have  done  him  good  by  saving  his  health  or  his 
time,  by  correcting  his  inaccuracy  or  want  of  taste,  and 
let  him  resolve  if  possible  to  impart  to  others  the  help 
of  which  he  has  so  greatly  felt  the  want  himself. 

But  sympathy  is  liable  to  abuse,  and  it  may  even 
degenerate  into  weakness.  There  may  be  too  much 
craving  for  it ;  and  too  much  readiness  to  impart  it. 
Respecting  the  first  let  us  remember  that  we  have 
each  of  us  to  make  our  own  lives,  and  that  another 
cannot  do  for  us  what  we  ought  to  be  doing  for  our- 
selves. There  are  some  persons  who  are  always 
wanting  to  lean  upon  others,  to  take  them  into  their 
confidence,  to  tell  them  the  secrets  of  their  souls ; 
especially  in  youth  they  form  friendships  with  any 
one  in  whom  they  can  find  a  response.  A  secret 
charm  in  another  leads  them  on ;  there  is  one  person 
in  the  world,  not  probably  the  worthiest  of  their 
acquaintance,  very  likely  one  of  the  weakest  and  most 
effusive,  who  for  a  time  has  a  greater  attraction  to  them 
than  father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  and  all  their  old 
and  tried  friends.  Whether  it  is  a  kind  of  mesmerism 
which  overpowers  them ;  or  whether  they  fall  under 
the  influence  of  a  stronger  will  than  their  own,  some- 
times intensified  to  the  pitch  of  madness  ;  or  whether 
there  is  some  secret  and  mysterious  communion  of 
feeling  which  unites  them ;  such  friendships  are  often 
regarded  with  regret  in  after  life.  It  seems  a  pity 
to  have  thrown  away  the  treasures  of  affection  on 
a  person  who  was  unworthy  of  them  or  who  deserved 


i6o  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

them  only  in  part.  Sometimes  they  have  violent 
ends.  The  friend  whom  we  erected  into  a  pope, 
whom  we  converted  into  a  hero,  is  seen  to  be  a  very 
ordinary  person.  But  it  would  have  been  better  that 
we  had  been  disillusioned  from  the  first,  and  had  not 
thrown  away  the  society  of  others  for  his  sake.  It  is 
not  a  promising  sign  of  young  persons  when  they 
hang  about  others,  instead  of  each  one  making  him- 
self a  character  and  life  of  his  own.  There  are 
doubtless  noble  and  generous  friendships  formed  by 
men  and  women  for  their  mutual  good — especially 
at  the  University — which  are  a  blessing  to  them  all 
their  lives  long.  But  we  must  remember  also,  as 
Bunyan  says,  that  '  there  is  a  way  to  hell  close  to  the 
gates  of  heaven.'  Men  ignorant  of  the  world  and  of 
themselves  may  fall  under  the  influence  of  women  who 
may  poison  the  cup  of  existence  to  them.  Women 
too  may  easily  be  betrayed  by  their  gentlest  feelings 
into  misery  and  ruin.  The  world  has  been  so  ordered 
by  God  that  the  best  things  lie  very  near  the  worst, 
and  that  the  worst  are  the  corruption  of  them. 

Yet  there  is  another  danger  or  temptation  con- 
nected with  sympathy :  as  there  are  some  persons 
who  crave  for  it  too  much,  there  are  some  who  are 
too  ready  to  impart  it.  It  has  been  said  that  there 
is  something  in  the  misfortunes  of  our  best  friends 
which  is  not  wholly  unpleasing  to  us — a  cynical  word 
which  yet  perhaps  admits  of  a  more  innocent  inter- 
pretation than  the  author  of  it  intended.     For  there 


IX.]    WEAKNESS  OF  EXCESSIVE  SYMPATHY    i6i 

is  a  pleasure,  not  in  the  misfortune  of  our  friends, 
but  in  being  able  to  feel  with  them  and  to  console 
them.  And  hence  persons  will  often  seek  to  make 
occasions  for  sympathy  ;  the  excitement  of  it  is  agree- 
able to  them.  There  are  a  few  who  at  the  first  sight 
of  others  are  naturally  drawn  to  them  and  conceive 
an  affection  for  them  almost  as  if  they  were  relations : 
this  sort  of  friendship  is  not  destined  to  last,  and  is 
generally  doomed  to  disappointment.  Such  peculiar 
natures,  when  they  mingle  much  with  the  world, 
commonly  have  a  double  fame.  They  are  greatly 
praised  and  greatly  blamed.  To  one  part  of  mankind 
they  appear  to  be  the  most  delightful  of  mortals  ; 
by  severer  and  more  critical  judgments  they  are 
branded  as  hypocrites,  and  their  weaknesses  are  often 
exaggerated,  and  the  good  qualities  which  they  really 
possess  are  denied.  The  danger  of  this  over-sym- 
pathetic temperament  is  that  it  impairs  the  love  of 
truth,  and  gives  birth  to  many  kinds  of  illusions  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  are  endowed  with  it,  as  well 
as  those  who  are  susceptible  to  its  influence.  To  do 
and  say  anything  just  to  please  others  weakens  our 
own  character  and  destroys  the  confidence  which 
we  should  desire  our  friends  to  repose  in  us.  The 
language  of  compliments  and  flattery  is  not  that 
which  a  man  of  sense  will  employ  (except  perhaps 
occasionally  and  in  jest),  because  it  is  unworthy  of 
himself  and  is  an  insult  to  the  understandings  of  those 
to  whom  it  is  addressed. 

M 


i62  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

But  enough  of  these  weaknesses  by  which  sympathy, 
like  other  human  qualities,  is  apt  to  be  deformed  and 
corrupted.  Let  us  rather  think  of  it  such  as  it  might 
be,  free  from  every  taint  of  sensuality  or  insincerity, 
or  false  sentiment,  such  as  '  celestial  spirits  may  feel ' 
in  this  world,  such  as  we  hope  may  be  realized  by 
some  communion  of  saints  in  another.  Of  this  higher 
sympathy  there  could  never  be  too  much ;  it  would 
be  nothing  short  of  the  love  of  God  and  man  taking 
possession  of  the  human  soul.  And  respecting 
human  feelings  generally,  I  think  that  we  may  lay 
down  this  law,  that  in  proportion  as  they  are  exerted 
on  higher  objects  they  may  safely  be  allowed  to 
grow  more  and  more  intense  ;  there  can  be  no  danger 
in  our  loving  God  too  much,  if  only  we  understand  His 
true  nature,  nor  any  possibility  of  abuse  in  devoting 
our  lives  for  the  good  of  man,  if  only  we  know  the 
means  by  which  that  good  is  to  be  attained.  The 
earthly  flames  which  light  up  the  human  soul  for 
a  brief  hour  have  their  accompaniment  of  smoke  and 
ashes,  but  there  may  be  also  a  divine  affection  which 
is  pure  and  imperishable. 

A  good  and  wise  man  ^  is  said  by  his  biographer 
to  have  died  meditating  on  the  number  and  order 
of  the  blessed  angels,  without  which  peace  could  not 
be  in  heaven,  '  and,  oh  that  it  might  be  so  on 
earth ! '    We  do  not  know  how  this  good  man  filled 

1  Richard  Hooker,  as  described  in  Izaak  Walton's  bio- 
graphy. 


IX.]  RELIGIOUS  SYMPATHY  163 

up  the  vacant  outline  of  his  vision.  But  without 
attempting  to  pierce  into  the  unseen  world,  may  we 
not  find  nearer  home,  quite  at  our  doors,  living  images 
far  more  peaceful  and  touching  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  There  is  the  sympathy  of  two  poor  and 
aged  persons,  who  have  nothing  else  to  live  for  but 
one  another,  who  in  their  misery  and  lowliness  have 
yet  retained  the  thought  of  the  goodness  of  God, 
and  seem  to  be  raised  above  the  accidents  of  life 
by  their  mutual  affection.  There  is  the  sympathy  of 
two  friends  engaged  in  some  common  work  for  the 
good  of  mankind :  they  care  nothing  about  the 
opinion  of  the  world  or  of  what  is  called  society, 
but  they  find  great  help  and  comfort  in  one  another. 
There  may  be  such  a  sympathy  in  marriage  if, 
besides  the  ties  of  natural  affection,  there  is  also 
a  communion  in  all  higher  things,  in  the  love  of 
truth,  in  the  desire  to  do  good,  in  purity  and  dis- 
interestedness and  unworldliness.  Such  a  sympathy 
there  might  be  in  a  university  or  in  a  religious  order, 
if  the  minds  of  its  members  were  fixed  on  the  pursuit 
of  truth,  free  from  every  alloy  of  jealousy  and  vanity ; 
and  if  to  the  desire  of  truth  they  added  the  love  of 
God  and  of  one  another.  This  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  upon  earth,  not  as  represented  to  us  in  pic- 
tures, but  as  seen  here  and  there  by  the  eye  of  God 
Himself.  And  if  a  man  would  have  this  idea  of 
divine  or  Christian  sympathy  concentrated  in  one 
living  image,  let  him  turn  to  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul, 

M  2 


i64  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

from  which  the  text  is  taken,  or  to  his  other  great 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  then  he  will  find  the 
highest  example  and  expression  of  it.  '  Rejoice 
with  them  that  rejoice,  weep  with  them  that  weep ' ; 
'  We  therefore  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak  and  not  to  please  ourselves.' 
'  For  even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself  '  Who  is  weak, 
and  I  am  not  weak?  Who  is  offended,  and  I  burn 
not  ? '  'In  weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watchlngs 
often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold 
and  nakedness.  Besides  those  things  that  are  with- 
out, that  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care  of  all 
the  churches.'  In  these  and  similar  w^ords  we  have 
the  image  of  one  who  felt  for  others  as  keenly  as  for 
himself,  who  suffered  in  their  sufferings  and  rejoiced 
in  their  joys,  who  lived  in  his  converts  a  second 
life,  even  as  his  own  life  seemed  to  be  derived  from 
Christ  and  God.  Such  sympathy  is  wonderful,  almost 
incomprehensible  to  us  ;  yet  we  may  learn  something 
from  it  which  may  be  applicable  to  our  own  lives. 

And  I  must  speak  lastly  of  Him  who  carried  our 
sins  and  bore  our  infirmities  in  a  more  special  sense 
than  any  other  among  the  sons  of  men ;  who 
looked  upon  men  and  loved  them,  who  was  touched 
by  their  misery  and  ignorance,  and  sought  to  bring 
them  back  to  His  Father  and  their  Father,  to  His 
God  and  their  God ;  who  wept  over  the  ill-fated 
city  which  had  not  known  the  things  belonging  to 
her    peace;    whose    affections   were   not   limited   by 


IX.]  CHRISTIAN  AND  UNIVERSAL  SYMPATHY  iG^ 

religion  or  race,  who  had  other  sheep  to  bring  into 
the  fold,  for  whom  also  He  cared;  who  by  intense 
sympathy  with  human  nature  knew  what  was  in  men, 
and  did  not  need  to  be  informed  of  their  intentions  or 
characters ;  who  thought  of  all  men  as  the  children 
of  God  who  by  some  accident  were  estranged  from 
Him  ;  of  whom  also  it  is  said  that  among  many  dis- 
ciples there  was  one  who  was  His  beloved  disciple 
— who  first  taught  men  to  love  their  enemies,  and 
in  His  last  hour  prayed  not  only  for  the  ignorant 
soldier,  but  for  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  sunk 
in  the  deeper  ignorance  of  prejudice  and  bigotry, 
'  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.' 

This  is  the  sympathy  of  Christ  with  all  mankind 
which  we  feebly  realize  and  at  a  distance  seek  to 
imitate,  yet  the  image  of  that  love  as  looking  down 
upon  us  from  the  cross  still  elevates  and  attracts  us. 
And,  although  we  are  weighed  down  by  custom  and 
the  burden  of  self  (which  we  would  fain  lay  aside 
if  we  could),  we  will  not  cease  to  carry  in  our  minds 
that  image  and  to  strive  in  the  only  way  which  is 
possible  through  the  love  of  man  to  attain  the  love 
of  God. 


i66  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [ix. 

^  It  is  with  great  sorrow  I  have  to  mention  to  you 
the  death  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members 
of  this  College,  Mr.  John  Addington  Symonds,  which 
took  place  after  a  very  brief  illness  at  Rome,  last 
Wednesday  morning.  He  was  a  man  of  genius  and 
also  of  very  unusual  learning.  During  the  last  ten 
years  he  has  resided  at  Davos  in  Switzerland  for 
the  benefit  of  his  health.  In  spite  of  illness  he  was 
always  writing  and  thinking.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  he  had  done  more,  perhaps,  already  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries  ;  yet  much  more  might  fairly 
have  been  expected  of  him.  His  studies  in  Greek 
poetry,  his  history  of  the  Renaissance,  and  his  recently 
published  life  of  Michael  Angelo  are  works  of  great 
merit  and  interest. 

Yet  there  is  another  trait  in  his  character  which 
I  would  rather  bring  before  you  than  his  rare  intel- 
lectual gifts ;  he  w^as  one  of  the  kindest  men  w^hom 
I  have  ever  known.  Like  his  father,  '  the  beloved 
physician,'  as  I  may  truly  call  him,  who  was  so 
distinguished  in  the  West  of  England,  whose  name 
it  is,  to  me,  a  pleasure  to  connect  with  that  of  his 
son,  he  was  gifted  with  a  rare  power  of  attracting 
others    and   of   sympathizing  with   their  wants   and 

^  The  following  words  were  added  when  the  Sermon 
was  last  preached  in  the  College  Chapel  in  April,  1893. 
They  are  given  as  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  preacher  was  apt  to  introduce  notices  of  members  of 
the  College  who  had  died. 


IX.]  DEATH  OF  J.  A.    SYMONDS  167 

feeling's.  No  one  gave  more  active  or  liberal  help 
to  those  who  needed  it;  the  inhabitants  of  Davos, 
in  particular,  regarded  him  as  a  friend  who  had 
done  kindness  to  many  of  them,  and  whom  they 
claimed  as  their  own.  It  is  sad  to  have  lost  so 
many  distinguished  persons  as  have  been  taken  from 
us  in  this  College  during  the  last  ten  years,  yet  it 
is  also  a  blessing  to  have  known  them. 


X 


1  OWE    NO    MAN  ANY  THING,    BUT    TO  LOVE   ONE 

ANOTHER  :   FOR  HE  THAT  LOVETH  ANOTHER  HATH 

FULFILLED  THE  LAW.  ^  ...   o 

Romans  xiii.  8. 

There  are  several  thing's  in  this  verse  which  are 
very  characteristic  of  St.  Paul.  First,  there  is  the 
tendency  to  go  off  upon  a  word  ;  the  mention  of  the 
word  '  love '  seems  to  suggest  to  the  Apostle's  mind 
his  favourite  thesis,  '  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.' 
This  he  pursues  through  several  verses.  Again,  he 
uses  the  word  '  owe '  in  two  different  ways  ;  in  the 
familiar  signification  of '  owing  a  debt,'  owing  money, 
and  also  in  the  sense  of  duty  or  obligation.  As  if 
he  said  '  Owe  no  man  any  thing  but  that  debt  which 
you  must  always  owe  and  ought  to  be  always  paying, 
the  endless  debt  of  love.'  Thirdly,  there  is  the  ten- 
dency which  we  often  obser\^e  in  the  writings  of 
St.  Paul  to  merge  the  particular  in  the  general,  the 
moral  in  the  spiritual.  He  is  constantly  going  back 
to  the  first  principles  of  the  love  of  God  and  of  man. 
He  is  full  of  them,  and  therefore  he  does  not  require  to 
point  out  any  precise  relation  in  which  they  stand  to 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  October  14,  1877. 


MONEY  AND   THE   GOSPEL  169 

minor  or  more  common  duties.  Thus  in  speaking  of 
common  honesty  which,  Hke  other  ordinary  duties — 
industry,  the  duty  of  hospitaUty  and  the  Hke— he  does 
not  disdain  to  urge  upon  his  unseen  friends  at  Rome, 
he  quite  naturally  to  himself  by  a  thread  of  associa- 
tion which  is  latent  in  his  own  mind,  passes  on  to  that 
love  which  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law. 

Leaving  the  original  meaning  of  the  words,  which 
is  plain  enough  when  we  have  remarked  the  little 
verbal  artifice  employed  by  the  Apostle,  I  purpose 
to  consider  the  general  subject.  What  are  our  duties 
in  the  matter  of  money  ? 

(i)  What  care  we  should  take  of  it ; 

(2)  What  use  we  should  make  of  it ; 
and  then 

(3)  I  shall  speak  of  that  higher  obligation  which  the 
Apostle  by  a  turn  of  words  connects  with  this  humbler 
duty.  The  two  together  comprehend  nearly  the  whole 
of  our  social  life  in  this  place. 

(i)  And  first  of  the  care  of  mone}^  That  may  seem 
to  be  a  sordid  thing,  having  nothing  ideal  or  spiritual 
about  it ;  a  thing  to  be  learned  in  places  of  business 
and  not  to  be  introduced  in  a  sermon.  But,  if  we 
reflect,  it  seems  to  underlie  a  great  part  of  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind.  There  is  nothing  which  weighs 
more  heavily  on  the  spirits  than  pecuniary  anxiety ; 
there  is  nothing  more  delightful  than  to  know  that 
we  have  enough  and  to  spare  for  all  rational  and 
noble  uses.     And  though  the  Scripture  tells  us  '  to 


I70  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

take  no  thought  for  the  morrow'  (that  is  the  ideal 
side  of  the  Gospel),  it  also  tells  us  '  to  make  to  our- 
selves friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness ' ; 
and  '  if  we  are  unfaithful  in  the  unrighteous  mammon 
who  will  commit  to  our  trust  the  true  riches  ? '  (that  is 
the  prudential  side).  We  must  add  to  our  faith  pru- 
dence, or  we  shall  be  tempting  God  and  risking  our 
own  usefulness  and  happiness.  We  are  not  leading 
the  lives  of  saints  and  angels,  and  we  must  not  sink 
into  negligence  about  the  common  duties  of  life  under 
the  pretence  that  we  are.  It  is  not  in  extraordinary 
ways,  but  by  the  due  regulation  of  our  ordinary 
actions,  that  we  hope,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression, 
to  attain  to  '  the  kingdom  of  God  ' ;  and  therefore 
there  is  no  duty  so  humble  or  prosaic  which  may  not 
properly  find  a  place  in  Christian  teaching. 

'  Owe  no  man  any  thing.'  This  is  a  homely  and 
excellent  rule  which  carries  us  a  long  way  in  daily 
life.     It  is  a  orreat  comfort  to  know  that  we  are  out  of 

o 

debt,  as  free  from  pecuniary  troubles  in  the  last  term 
of  our  Oxford  career  as  in  the  first.  It  is  a  great 
economy  too,  for  in  some  form  or  other  we  are 
always  paying  interest,  ten,  twenty,  thirty  per  cent, 
on  the  debts  which  we  contract.  It  saves  us  also 
from  mortifications  and  concealments ;  from  giving 
pain  to  ourselves  and  giving  pain  to  others,  which 
often  strikes  very  deep  indeed.  Over  the  miseries  of 
debt  there  have  been  hearts  broken — of  parents  sud- 
denly awakened  out  of  the  fools  paradise  in  which 


X.]  MISERY  OF  DEBT  171 

they  have  been  Hving ;  of  children  saddened  by  the 
thoug-ht  of  the  sorrow  to  others  which  their  improvi- 
dence has  caused.  To  older  persons  it  is  very  sad  to 
see,  as  you  occasionally  may,  in  this  place  a  young 
man  who  has  been,  perhaps,  with  difficulty  sent  to 
the  University,  spending-  more  than  he  ought,  so  that 
the  rest  of  the  family  have  in  a  measure  to  den}^ 
themselves  in  consequence  of  his  extravagance.  And 
yet  probably  they  would  be  the  first  to  make  excuses 
for  him.  '  He  was  inexperienced,  he  was  tempted  by 
others,  the  facility  of  obtaining  credit  was  so  great.' 
The  truth  is  that  we  all  of  us  too  easily  slide  into 
a  carelessness  about  money  matters.  The  enjoyment 
is  present,  the  hour  of  reckoning  is  comparatively 
distant;  almost  unconsciously  to  ourselves  a  certain 
amount  of  debt  accumulates.  And  of  course  every- 
where the  seller  has  the  opposite  interest  to  the 
buyer ;  he  praises  his  own  goods,  he  keeps  out  of 
sight  the  necessity  of  payment ;  he  has  such  a  love 
for  us  that  he  is  almost  ready  to  give  them  to  us. 
He  discerns  which  way  our  inclinations  tend  and 
cleverly  seconds  them ;  in  short,  he  is  acquainted 
with  all  the  arts  by  which  a  weak  man  can  be 
approached.  While  we  are  young  we  are  especially 
open  to  influence  of  this  kind.  And  therefore  I  say 
that  early  in  life  we  should  acquire  the  habit  of 
'  owing  no  man  any  thing,'  and  should  deal  only  with 
those  who  are  willing  that  we  should  'owe  them 
nothing.'     It  is  good  to  feel  somewhat  uneasy  while 


172  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

a  bill  remains  unpaid.  I  would  not  require  every 
one  to  keep  minute  accounts  of  his  private  expendi- 
ture, for  that  might  become  a  needless  burden.  But 
every  one  can  with  a  little  trouble  to  himself  see  how 
he  stands  at  the  end  of  each  month  or  of  each  term. 
He  has  only  to  cast  up  a  few  figures;  to  compare 
what  he  has  received  and  what  he  has  paid,  and  to 
satisfy  himself  that  nothing  has  been  omitted.  Unless 
he  wishes  to  be  deceived,  as  is  the  case  with  some 
persons  who  refuse  to  look  into  their  accounts,  he 
can  easily  know  the  truth.  And  he  is  inexcusable 
who  is  careless  in  a  matter  of  such  importance. 

The  management  of  our  own  concerns  is  a  great 
part  of  the  silent  conduct  of  life,  and  it  is  a  good  test 
of  whether  we  can  be  entrusted  with  the  concerns  of 
others.  There  is  a  power  w^hich  may  be  easily 
acquired,  but  which  some  never  acquire,  and  others 
only  by  dear  experience — the  power  of  understanding 
and  doing  business.  It  is  hardly  thought  of  by  young 
men  in  comparison  with  intellectual  gifts,  and  yet 
there  is  no  power  which  conduces  more  to  happiness 
and  success  in  life.  It  is  like  a  steward  which  keeps 
the  house  in  order.  It  is  the  power  of  managing 
and  administering  (okoi^ojutta),  whether  in  public  or 
in  private  life.  To  be  a  thorough  man  of  business 
is  really  a  very  high  praise.  It  implies  a  clear 
head  and  mastery  of  details ;  it  requires  accuracy 
and  constant  attention  and  sound  judgment.  Though 
it   begins   with   figures   of  arithmetic,   it   ends   with 


X.]  BUSINESS  HABITS  173 

a  knowledge  of  the  characters  of  men.  It  is  that 
uncommon  quahty  '  common  sense '  applied  to  daily 
life.  It  is  not  contained  within  the  pages  of  a  ledger, 
but  consists  rather  in  the  habit  of  dealing  with  affairs 
of  which  the  sums  in  a  book  are  only  the  record  or 
symbol.  The  man  of  business  is  in  his  own  sphere 
a  man  of  the  world  also.  He  is  not  easily  imposed 
upon,  because  he  will  never  have  anything  to  do  with 
matters  which  he  does  not  understand.  He  takes 
nothing  for  granted  which  does  not  come  within  the 
range  of  his  own  experience.  He  is  not  so  foolish 
as  to  believe  in  great  promises  of  future  gain  merely 
because  he  sees  them  in  print.  He  has  a  cool  head 
and  is  not  misled  by  the  enthusiasm  of  others,  who 
having  been  duped  themselves  often  without  dis- 
honesty are  the  makers  of  dupes.  He  knows  instinc- 
tively the  familiar  truth  that  '  high  interest  is  another 
name  for  bad  security.'  If  he  has  to  invest  property 
he  will  act  not  upon  fancies  of  his  own,  but  upon  the 
best  advice  and  information  which  he  can  obtain. 
He  will  attend  to  his  concerns  and  will  retain  the 
threads  of  them  in  his  own  hands.  Here  is  a  side  of 
life  every  one  should  in  some  degree  copy  and  make 
his  own.  There  is  nothing  in  it  which  appeals  to  the 
imagination,  there  is  nothing  grand  in  it,  but  it  is 
useful.  And  it  runs  up  into  higher  qualities,  upright- 
ness, self-denial,  self-control ;  the  honourable  man 
of  business  is  one  of  the  noblest  forms  of  English 
character. 


174  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

(2)  Enoug-h  of  the  care  of  money  ;  let  us  now  pro- 
ceed to  consider  the  true  use  of  it.     Not  only  are 
many   enjoyments    and   comforts    dependent   on   the 
possession  of  some  amount  of  wealth,  but  also  many 
of  the  higher  g-oods  of  life.     Often  through  extra va- 
g"ance  in  youth  a  man  may  be  bound  to  some  inferior 
or   mechanical  occupation  ;    he  may  be  deprived  of 
the  means  of  study  or  education ;  he  may  lose  the 
best   of  all    God's    gifts — independence.     Again,   he 
who  has  nothing  can  give  nothing :   economy  is  the 
necessary  condition  of  liberality.     Every  one  should 
try  and  have  a  little   surplus   which   he   can   freely 
apply  to  some  higher  purpose,  to  the  cultivation  of 
his  own  mind,  to  the  relief  of  the  suffering,  to  some 
permanent   work    of   charity   or    public   good.     He 
should  save  money,  not  in  the  spirit  of  the  miser,  but 
because  he  sees  so  many  ways  in  which  it  can  be 
put  out  at  interest  for  the  good  of  others,  yielding 
sometimes  twenty,  sometimes  thirty,  sometimes  a  hun- 
dredfold in  return.    And  though  I  have  been  saying 
that  a  man  should  be  careful  of  money,  yet  there  is 
also  a  sense  in  w^hich  he   should  be  careless  of  it, 
never  allowing  himself  to  regard  it  as   an  end  but 
only  as  a  means  to  something  better.     The  time  will 
come  when  he  must  part  with  it ;  he  cannot  take  it 
with  him  into  another  world,  and  the  art  is  how  to 
convert  the  unrighteous  mammon  into  the  true  riches. 
Many  would  tell  us  that  the  less  we  give  away  in 
charity  the  better,  and  such  a  maxim  naturally  falls 


X.]         THE  BEST  METHODS   OF  CHARITY      175 

in  with  the  indolence  or  selfishness  of  mankind.  The 
reason  is  supposed  to  be  that  charity  tends  to  destroy 
independence:  men  will  not  do  for  themselves  what 
others  are  willing  to  do  for  them.  If  aged  persons  are 
supported  by  the  parish  they  will  often  be  neglected 
by  their  children ;  if  education  is  free,  if  relief  in 
sickness  is  given,  there  will  be  some  corresponding 
relaxation  of  duty ;  the  family  tie  will  be  weakened 
and  the  social  state  of  a  country  will  decline.  Such 
is  the  argument,  in  which  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
truth ;  and  in  works  of  charity  I  think  we  might 
fairly  be  required  to  start  with  some  such  principle 
as  this, '  that  we  should  never  relieve  physical  suffering 
at  the  cost  of  moral  degradation.'  But  may  there  not 
be  modes  of  charity  which  increase  instead  of  dimin- 
ishing the  spirit  of  independence  ?  A  small  loan  of 
money  given  to  a  person  who  is  engaged  in  a  hard 
struggle  to  keep  himself  or  his  children  out  of  the 
workhouse,  for  a  purpose  such  as  education,  which  is 
least  liable  to  abuse,  can  scarcely  be  imagined  to  do 
much  harm.  It  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  the 
poor  were  able  to  manage  for  themselves,  and  per- 
haps, when  they  have  been  educated  for  a  generation 
or  two,  they  may  be  in  a  different  position,  and  may 
no  longer  require  the  assistance  of  others.  But  at 
present,  and  in  this  country,  they  must  have  some 
help  from  the  classes  above  them ;  they  have  no 
adequate  sense  of  their  own  higher  wants,  of  educa- 
tion,  of  sanitary   improvement,   of  the   ordering   of 


176  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

family  life  and  the  like.  We  all  know  the  difference 
between  the  lot  of  a  parish  in  our  rural  districts,  which 
has  been  cared  for  by  the  landlord  and  looked  after 
by  the  ministers  of  rehgion,  and  one  which  has  not. 
And  therefore  I  say  that  great  responsibilities  fall 
upon  us  who  have  money  or  who  have  education, 
nothing  short  of  the  care  of  those  who  in  the  social 
scale  are  below  us.  Property  has  its  duties  as  well  as 
its  rights,  but  the  sense  of  right  is  apt  to  be  stronger 
in  most  of  us  than  the  sense  of  duty.  Instead  of 
habitually  feeling  that  the  poor  are  our  equals  in  the 
sight  of  God,  '  that  there  is  nothing  which  we  have 
not  received,'  that  our  advantages,  whatever  they 
may  be — money,  talent,  social  position  — are  a  trust 
only — instead  of  rendering  to  God  the  things  which 
He  has  given — we  claim  and  assert  them  for  ourselves. 
Whether  gifts  of  charity  are  a  good  or  an  evil 
depends  upon  the  manner  of  giving  them.  I  am 
quite  willing  to  admit  that  they  may  be  the  greatest 
evil ;  nay,  that  whole  nations  and  classes  of  society 
may  be  demoralized  by  them.  But  the  inference 
seems  to  be  not  that  we  ought  to  get  rid  of  charity, 
but  that  much  greater  pains  and  care  should  be  taken 
in  the  administration  of  it.  The  dispensing  of  charity 
requires  a  kind  heart,  but  it  also  requires  the  admix- 
ture of  some  sterner  stuff  in  the  human  bosom.  Often 
the  refusal  of  charity  may  be  a  greater  kindness  than 
the  giving  of  it.  In  this  matter  right  and  wrong  seem 
to  be  absolutely  determined  by  the  consequences  of 


X.]  A   SPIRIT  OF  LIBERALITY  177 

our  action.  We  ought  not  to  relieve  our  feelings 
or  save  ourselves  from  importunity  at  the  cost  of 
encouraging  mendicancy.  Whatever  we  do  for  others 
should  be  of  such  a  nature  as  will  tend  to  elevate 
them,  as  will  encourage  and  stimulate  not  the  lower 
but  the  higher  principle  in  them.  For  our  own  sakes 
as  well  as  theirs  there  should  be  no  display ;  '  let 
not  thy  right  hand  know  what  thy  left  hand  doeth.' 
Charity  should,  if  possible,  not  be  seen  to  be  charity ; 
it  should  be  just  a  part  of  our  ordinary  business,  never 
spoken  of  except  as  such ;  and  thus  the  greater  part 
of  its  danger,  both  to  ourselves  and  others,  will  be 
avoided. 

To  charity  is  nearly  allied  the  virtue  of  liberality, 
which  is  reckoned  in  most  ancient  lists  of  the  virtues, 
but  in  modern  times  seems  rather  to  have  lost  its 
dignity  and  place.  '  The  liberal  man  deviseth  liberal 
things  and  by  liberal  things  he  shall  stand.'  I  suppose 
that  there  are  few  of  us  who  would  like  to  be  thought 
mean  in  the  conventional  payments  of  life,  we  should 
rather  desire  to  err  on  the  side  of  liberality.  To 
be  involved  in  small  disputes  about  money  is  a 
reflection  on  a  man's  temper  or  on  his  good  sense. 
There  is  one  principle,  however,  which  may  be 
rightly  urged  upon  him  in  small  matters  as  in  great, 
that  he  should  act  precisely  in  the  same  manner 
whether  he  is  under  the  control  of  public  opinion  or 
whether  he  is  not.  A  very  few,  perhaps,  who  are  in 
their  hearts  liberal,  may  from  the  'early  chill  of  poverty, 

N 


178  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

which  is  not  easily  got  out  of  the  bones,'  or  from 
some  other  cause,  find  a  temptation  in  themselves  to 
narrow  ways :  they  should  conceal  them  and  get  rid 
of  them. 

There  are  many  noble  ways  in  which  wealth  may 
be  employed,  but  a  man  must  select  them  for  him- 
self; they  must  accord  with  his  tastes  and  circum- 
stances. One  way  which  the  Apostle  commends  is 
hospitality  ;  the  bringing  together  our  friends  to  eat 
and  drink  and  converse,  and  not  only  those  who  are 
of  equal  or  higher  rank  than  ourselves  and  can  ask 
us  again,  but  those  who  are  a  little  depressed  in  life, 
and  who  may  be  said  in  a  figure  to  correspond  to 
the  halt  and  maimed  in  the  parable  of  the  Marriage 
Supper.  Hospitality  may  do  a  great  deal  of  good 
in  the  world.  It  binds  men  together  in  ties  of  friend- 
ship and  kindness  ;  it  draws  them  out  of  their  isola- 
tion ;  it  moulds  and  softens  their  characters.  The 
pulse  seems  to  beat  quicker  and  our  spirits  flow  more 
freely  when  we  are  received  with  a  hearty  welcome  ; 
when  the  entertainer  is  obviously  not  thinking  of 
himself  but  of  his  guests,  when  the  conversation  has 
health  and  life  in  it  and  seems  to  refresh  us  after  toil 
and  work. 

Another  mode  of  liberality  is  the  free  use  of  money 
for  any  great  object.  There  are  so  many  things 
which  can  be  accomplished  in  the  world,  if  persons 
are  indifferent  or  comparatively  so  to  the  value  of 
money,  which   cannot   be   accomplished  if  they  are 


X.]        NOBLE   USES   OF  MONEY  179 

niggardly  or  exacting.  Liberality  makes  others 
liberal ;  it  smooths  the  path  in  any  great  enterprise  ; 
it  infuses  a  spirit  into  society.  In  corporate  bodies 
especially,  whose  property  is  a  trust  in  the  more 
established  sense  of  the  word,  public  interests  should 
always  be  preferred  to  private. 

In  the  best  time  of  the  ancient  world  the  munifi- 
cence of  private  citizens  undertook  many  public 
services — the  remains  of  their  works  may  still  be 
found  surviving  at  the  present  day.  A  similar  spirit 
in  the  Middle  Ages  covered  England  with  monas- 
teries and  churches.  Has  it  altogether  departed 
among  ourselves  ?  Not  quite ;  we  may  trace  some 
reflection  of  it  in  the  church  restoration  which  has 
gone  on  in  the  last  thirty  years,  and  seems  to 
leave  Uttle  for  the  next  generation  to  complete. 
There  remains  another  work  more  sacred  and  more 
important  still,  which  must  greatly  affect  the  welfare 
of  this  country  in  coming  ages  (would  that  it  were 
possible  for  us  to  see  it  accompHshed  in  our  own 
life-time!),  the  restoration  and  improvement  of  the 
dwellings  of  the  poor. 

I  have  indicated  a  few  ways  in  which  wealth  may 
be  nobly  spent ;  let  me  return  to  speak  of  the  prin- 
ciple from  which,  according  to  the  Apostle,  these 
and  the  like  actions  should  flow — the  love  of  one 
another.  Like  some  other  words  of  Scripture  the 
expression  may  seem  a  little  too  strong  to  denote  the 
relation  which  exists  generally  in  any  society  even  of 

N  2 


i8o  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [x. 

Christians  except  towards  a  very  few,  and  may  need 
translation  into  some  other  form  of  words.  I  should 
not  like  to  say  that  a  society  is  dependent  on  the 
love  of  its  members  for  one  another,  but  rather  on 
their  common  feeling,  on  their  kindness  and  friend- 
ship to  one  another,  or,  to  use  another  expression  of 
the  Apostle,  on  their  being-  of  one  mind  one  towards 
another.  The  persons  who  are  brought  together 
here  from  various  parts  of  the  world  and  from 
different  classes  of  society,  over  and  above  their 
common  duty  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  have  special 
duties  to  one  another.  They  are  bound  by  a  nearer 
tie  than  men  in  general ;  they  ought  to  help  one 
another ;  they  have  common  interests ;  they  ought 
not  to  be  indifferent  to  anything  which  affects  the 
good  or  credit  of  the  society.  There  are  different 
characters  among  them  who  make  up  what  is  wanting 
in  each  other.  As  the  Apostle  says  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  '  we  have  many  members  in  one  body  and 
all  members  have  not  the  same  office,'  so  in  any 
school  or  college  there  is  a  variety  and  at  the  same 
time  interdependence  of  the  elements  which  compose 
them.  One  of  the  first  of  duties  in  this  place  is  to 
raise  and  improve  social  life,  to  bring  men  together 
and  make  them  friends,  to  get  rid  of  sets  and  ani- 
mosities, to  maintain  and  elevate  the  tone  of  daily 
conversation.  Even  a  single  person  who  has  strong 
affection  and  principle,  and  a  natural  gaiety  of  soul, 
may  have  a  great  influence  for  good :   without  pre- 


X.]  IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOCIAL   LIFE  i8i 

tending  to  be  wiser  or  better  than  others,  he  may 
have  a  form  of  character  which  controls  them. 
People  hardly  consider  how  much  good  a  little 
kindness  may  do  in  this  sometimes  troubled  world. 
When  a  man  is  a  stranger  in  a  strange  place, 
a  sympathetic  word,  a  silent  act  of  courtesy,  makes 
a  wonderful  impression.  The  plant  that  was  shrink- 
ing into  itself  under  these  genial  influences  brings 
forth  leaves  and  flowers  and  fruit.  There  is  pro- 
bably no  one,  who,  if  he  thought  about  it,  would 
not  contribute  much  more  than  he  does  to  the 
happiness  of  others.  There  are  relations  again 
towards  servants  which  might  often  be  better  than 
they  are.  Many  a  one  has  found  among  them  the 
best  and  faithfullest  of  friends.  Let  us  show  a  little 
consideration  of  them  in  their  daily  toil,  taking  care 
of  them,  as  they  take  care  of  us,  and  helping  them 
in  such  ways  as  we  can,  and  acknowledging  that  we 
have  a  common  interest  with  them.  The  eye  of  the 
friend  finds  out  the  mental  as  well  as  the  bodily  wants 
of  others,  and  tries  to  minister  to  them. 

These  seem  to  be  some  of  the  practical  modes  in 
which,  living  in  this  place,  we  may  carry  out  the 
Apostle's  injunction  that  we  should  love  one  another : 
and  would  that  the  love  of  one  another  might  spring 
from  the  love  of  God !  For  then  it  would  be  equable 
and  enduring :  like  His  love  to  us,  it  would  have  no 
distinctions  of  sect  or  country  or  caste ;  it  would  not 
be  the  light  result  of  a  capricious  fancy.     The  deeper 


1 82  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

feelings  of  human  nature  all  take  their  origin  from 
Him  and  find  in  Him  a  resting  place.  Where  His 
peace  is,  there  is  the  true  peace ;  where  '  His  love  is 
shed  abroad  in  men's  hearts,'  there  men  are  of  one 
mind  in  a  college  and  in  a  family ;  where  His  truth  is, 
there  are  no  more  verbal  disputes  or  theological  con- 
troversies. In  this  higher  peace  and  love  and  truth  we 
would  fain  live,  although  we  know  that  any  reflection 
of  them  to  which  we  can  attain  in  this  world  is 
necessarily  partial  and  imperfect. 


XI 


^  OF  MAKING  MANY  BOOKS  THERE  IS  NO  END,  AND 
MUCH  STUDY  IS  A  WEARINESS  OF  THE  FLESH.  LET 
US  HEAR  THE  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WHOLE  MATTER: 
FEAR  GOD  AND  KEEP  HIS  COMMANDMENTS;  FOR 
THIS  IS  THE  WHOLE  DUTY  OF  MAN. 

EccLES.  xii.  12,  13. 

These  two  verses  breathe  the  double  spirit  of 
that  strange  book  in  which  we  are  taught  that  '  all 
is  vanity,'  and  yet  that  '  God  will  bring  every  word 
and  thought  into  judgment.'  The  writer  is  wear)^ 
of  himself  and  of  all  human  things :  he  is  seeking 
for  a  truth  beyond  these,  which  he  can  hardly,  if  at 
all,  see.  The  first  of  these  two  spirits  is  what  in 
our  own  days  has  been  called  '  Pessimism.'  But  this 
view  of  the  preacher  reaches  further  and  is  more 
searching  than  that  of  any  modern  writer  on  the 
same  subject.  Man  has  nothing ;  knows  nothing ; 
is  nothing.  Yet  from  this  negation  of  hope  and 
good,  in  which  all  the  idols  of  this  world  are  laid 
low,  there  springs  up  at  last  the  conviction  that  to 
do  rightly  is  the  final  end  of  life,  and  that  though 
all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  should  disappear,  the 
true  rock  remains,  not  so  much  as  a  belief,  but  as 
a  necessity  of  human  nature. 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  January,  1885. 


i84  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

I  do  not  propose  to  consider  how  much  of  this 
high  argument  is  appHcable  to  our  own  day.  No 
doubt  there  are  persons  among  ourselves  w^ho  are 
anxious  to  do  rightly  and  keep  the  commandments 
of  God,  who  yet  feel  themselves  to  be  standing  on 
a  very  narrow  ledge  of  religious  belief  or  know- 
ledge. Into  that  application  of  the  argument  I  am 
not  going  to  enter,  but  only  to  draw  your  attention 
to  the  first  verse  of  the  text :  '  Of  making  many 
books  there  is  no  end,  and  much  study  is  a  weari- 
ness to  the  flesh.'  Does  not  the  note  which  they 
utter  at  times  find  an  echo  in  our  inmost  hearts  ? 
We  fancy  that  they  are  more  applicable  to  our  own 
age  than  to  any  which  has  preceded.  There  is  st) 
much  excitement  in  the  world ;  such  a  Babel  of 
voices ;  so  many  winds  blowing  from  all  quarters 
of  the  heavens,  that  we  can  hardly  be  ourselves,  or 
possess  our  souls  in  patience.  And  sometimes  we 
are  disposed  to  ask  whether  our  forefathers  were 
not  happier  than  we  are  in  their  comparative  fixity 
of  opinions,  in  their  narrowness  and  simplicity,  living 
in  the  country^  or  in  small  towns,  with  few^  books  and 
an  occasional  review  or  newspaper :  w^hether  what  we 
have  gained  in  knowledge  we  may  not  have  lost  in 
force  of  character  ?  And  the  writers  of  books  cannot 
avoid  making  a  similar  reflection.  To  what  end  has 
been  all  this  strain  and  effort  of  mind  ?  For  a  long 
work  involves  a  great  deal  of  anxiety,  far  greater 
than  the  author  of  the  work  ever  dreamed  of  when 


XL]  WRITERS  AND    THEIR    TRIALS  185 

he  first  conceived  the  idea  of  it.  How  shall  he 
express  himself  so  that  he  may  be  understood  ? 
How  will  his  work  be  received  by  the  public  ?  How 
long  will  his  labours  live  ?  Will  he  ever  be  freed 
from  the  chain  which  drags  upon  him  ?  Such  are 
the  thoughts  which  are  often  recurring  to  his  mind. 
More  than  thirty  years  ago  I  remember  meeting  on 
the  Surrey  downs  a  remarkable  looking  man :  one 
who  has  been  thought  to  be,  as  perhaps  he  was, 
a  great  teacher  of  this  and  a  former  generation. 
Shall  I  tell  you  his  name  ?  It  was  Thomas  Carlyle. 
He  said  to  me,  '  I  am  wearied  out  with  the  burden 
of  writing,  and  I  am  just  come  to  spend  a  day  or 
two  walking  about  among  the  hills.'  And  to  another 
person  he  said,  '  I  only  want  to  lay  my  head  on  the 
pillow  and  be  at  rest.'  And  I  have  no  doubt  that 
he,  if  any  one,  would  have  found  in  the  words  of 
the  text  the  expression  of  one  of  his  own  strongest 
convictions,  '  of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end, 
and  much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh ' ;  and 
I  believe  that  he  would  have  added,  '  Let  us  hear 
the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter:  fear  God  and 
keep  His  commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole  duty 
of  man.' 

But  every  student,  and  not  the  writer  of  books 
only,  has  trials  and  difficulties  of  his  own.  The 
weariness  of  knowledge  comes  upon  him,  and  he 
too  would  like  to  be  in  the  fields  enjoying  the  fresh 
air  or  the  bright  sun,   listening  to   the   murmuring 


i86  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

stream,  or  to  the  voices  of  innumerable  birds,  tossing 
in  the  hayfield  instead  of  poring  over  books.  '  What 
can  be  more  delightful,'  said  some  one  to  a  great 
statesman  (Charles  Fox),  'than  on  a  hot  summer's 
day  to  lie  in  the  long  grass  with  a  book  in  one's 
hand  ? '  But  '  Why  with  a  book  ? '  is  the  well-known 
reply ;  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  there  are  persons 
here  present  who  have  experienced  a  similar  feeling. 
For  the  minds  of  most  of  us  do  not  seem  capable  of 
bearing  any  ver^'  long  or  continuous  strain ;  they 
lose  their  tone,  and  may  become  seriously  injured 
if  we  attempt  to  resist  this  natural  desire  for  rest. 
It  is  important  to  do  whatever  we  have  to  do  with 
all  our  might ;  it  is  also  important  to  know  when 
to  leave  off.  Study  is  not  the  whole  business  of  life ; 
he  can  never  be  a  great  scholar  who  is  a  mere  scholar ; 
there  should  be  some  proportion  between  the  powers 
of  memory  and  acquisition,  and  the  power  of  thought 
or  creation.  If  we  neglect  these  simple  principles  we 
shall  be  dwarfed  and  stunted;  we  shall  never  attain 
any  perfect  growth  of  mind  or  character.  This  is 
the  application  which  I  make  of  the  Preacher's  words, 
not  his  own,  but  one  which  may  be  fairly  made  of 
them,  in  the  few  remarks  which  I  have  to  offer  on 
the  '  Method  of  Study.'  We  are  all  of  us  '  students ' 
in  some  degree  and  in  different  ways ;  we  all  of  us 
read  and  write  according  to  our  abilities.  Is  it  too 
much  to  suppose  that  there  may  be  a  theory  as  well 
as  a  practice  of  study ;   and  that  if  we  would  attend 


XI.]  STUDY  AND  RELAXATION  187 

to  the  true  method  of  reading  and  thinking-,  many 
things  might  be  made  easier  and  more  interesting, 
much  time  might  be  saved,  perhaps  heahh  preserved, 
and  far  greater  progress  made  than  hitherto  ?  There 
is  a  common  proverb  that  every  man  is  either  a  fool 
or  a  physician  at  forty ;  and  the  student  in  Hke 
manner  before  he  is  twenty  should  be  able  to 
'  minister  to  himself ' ;  he  should  understand  his  own 
character ;  he  should  realize  his  own  defects  and 
advantages,  and  the  '  defauts  de  ses  qualites ' :  and 
he  may  sometimes  be  profited  by  the  experience  of 
another  and  not  be  unwilling  to  catch  up  what  men 
say  of  him  behind  his  back  ;  to  see  himself  as  others 
see  him  ;  and  to  take  the  hint  which  a  friend  in  season 
offers  him. 

There  are  some  questions  which,  though  simple,  may 
serve  to  stimulate  our  interest  in  the  inquiry:  Why 
do  some  men  make  such  rapid  progress  while  others 
are  always  lagging  behind,  not  in  proportion  either  to 
their  ability  or  industry^?  Why  do  some  men  only 
succeed  at  the  University  and  not  in  after-life  ?  What 
are  the  qualities  which  enable  a  candidate  to  do  well, 
as  the  phrase  runs,  in  an  examination  ?  And  how  may 
an  able  man  make  the  most  of  his  abilities  ?  How  may 
an  ordinary  man  become  a  useful  member  of  society  ? 
What  is  the  relation  between  talent  and  industry  ? 
Or  rather,  is  not  talent,  and  even  genius,  the  power 
of  taking  pains  ?  We  know  that  nothing  consider- 
able was   ever  accomplished  without  concentration  ; 


i88  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  we  should  be 
always  concentrating  ourselves.  There  is  a  time  for 
effort  and  a  time  for  relaxing  effort ;  there  are  many 
things  that  we  should  leave  to  habit  and  instinct,  and 
allow  ourselves  to  grow  like  the  flowers  of  the  field, 
like  trees  by  the  river-side. 

A  picture  of  the  successful  student  and  of  the 
unsuccessful  may  throw  more  light  upon  the  subject 
which  we  are  considering  than  any  methodical  treat- 
ment of  it.  There  are  some  persons  to  whom  every 
sort  of  knowledge  has  an  interest,  and  there  is  no 
greater  proof  of  capacity  than  this.  They  seem  to 
learn  almost  faster  than  they  can  be  taught;  they 
improve  upon  what  they  are  taught ;  they  light  up 
with  their  own  intelligence  the  page  of  the  book 
which  they  are  reading,  the  experiment  which  the}^ 
are  observing.  Yet  they  are  equally  remarkable  for 
their  teachableness ;  the  least  hint  of  the  truth  which 
Is  thrown  out  to  them  by  an  older  person  is  eagerly 
caught  up  and  welcomed  by  them.  They  instinc- 
tively perceive  what  is  important  and  what  is  unim- 
portant, and  as  no  man  can  remember  all  things, 
they  keep  the  two  in  their  proper  places.  They 
have  the  sense  of  proportion  which  the  Greeks  called 
by  an  expressive  term  '  the  art  of  measuring,'  and 
which  we  commonly  term  'judgment.'  They  do  not 
waste  memory,  that  '  gift  of  God,'  on  trivial  and 
foolish  reading  which  is  hurtful  to  the  mind  ;  nor  do 
they  complain  of  it  as  insufficient  for  the  acquirement 


XI.]  A    SUCCESSFUL   STUDENT  189 

of  knowledge.  They  not  only  read  but  think  ;  new 
analogies  or  points  of  view  are  constantly  occurring 
to  them  ;  and  every  part  of  their  studies  is  brought 
to  bear  upon  every  action  of  their  lives.  And  they 
not  only  think  but  speak  and  write  with  clearness 
and  simplicity,  not  allowing  the  matter  to  be  over- 
laid with  words,  not  using  figures  of  speech  and 
rhetorical  arts,  but  letting  their  ideas  express  them- 
selves as  if  by  accident  in  their  most  natural  form. 
Such  students,  on  entering  on  the  study  of  history 
or  physiology  or  of  moral  or  metaphysical  philo- 
sophy, feel  that  they  are  acquiring  a  new  faculty 
and  have  a  new  world  opening  upon  them.  They 
learn  things  in  their  natural  order,  and  at  the  right 
time;  they  do  not  put  them  off,  or  try  to  recover 
them  when  too  late.  If  they  have  good  health,  and 
do  not  allow  the  mind  to  overstrain  the  body,  they 
are  among  the  happiest  of  men.  Such  students  are 
the  wings  of  their  teacher ;  they  seem  to  know  more 
than  they  ever  learn ;  they  clothe  the  bare  and  frag- 
mentary thought  in  the  brightness  of  their  own  minds. 
Their  questions  suggest  new  thoughts  to  him,  and  he 
appears  to  derive  from  them  as  much  or  more  than 
he  imparts  to  them.  A  few  such  persons  there  have 
))een  at  this  College,  perhaps  two  or  three  at  any 
one  time,  who  by  their  character  and  abiHties  have 
been  conspicuous  above  their  fellows. 

May  we  venture    to    think   of   a   student   cast   in 
a  mould  higher  still,  who  from  early  youth  to  old 


I90  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

age  has  cultivated  his  faculties  and  used  them  only 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-men, 
whom  no  earthly  prize,  no  hope  of  reaching  some 
ambitious  summit  in  a  great  profession  or  in  the 
political  arena,  has  drawn  away  from  the  love  of 
the  truth,  or  from  perfect  sincerity,  or  from  the 
desire  to  imitate  Christ  and  to  be  His  follower. 
What  a  life  might  not  this  be  ?  And  why  should 
it  be  regarded  as  unattainable  in  our  own  age  and 
country?  Men  have  ere  now  presented  themselves 
'  a  living  sacrifice '  to  the  service  of  God ;  they  have 
given  up  this  world  for  another ;  they  have  counted 
themselves  as  nothing  that  they  might  win  Christ 
and  the  truth.  Is  it  a  thing  romantic  and  absurd 
that  the  idea  of  consecrating  study  to  the  attainment 
of  a  higher  knowledge  of  God  or  to  the  relief  of 
human  suffering  should  steal  over  the  mind  of  some 
men  here  present? 

Yet,  perhaps,  it  may  be  deemed  that  this  is  an 
ideal  only,  and  that  most  persons  will  hardly  under- 
stand what  is  here  meant.  It  may  be  so  ;  and  still 
in  lower  degrees  such  ideals  may  be  realized  in  many 
of  us.  May  we  not  begin  to  love  knowledge  for  its 
own  sake,  not  for  any  earthly  interest,  but  from  the 
simple  desire  to  know ;  not  as  time-servers  or  men- 
pleasers,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  honours  in  an 
examination,  or  of  succeeding  in  a  profession,  but 
because  it  is  our  duty  to  make  the  most  of  our  lives 
and  cultivate  the  talents  which  God  has  given  us  ? 


XL]      THE  STUDENT  FOLLOWING   CHRIST      191 

The  honest  desire  to  get  at  the  truth  about  something- 
is  really  a  kind  of  ability  or  originality.  He  whose 
thoughts  are  his  own  and  nobody's  else,  who  as 
a  writer  or  in  a  narrower  sphere  has  made  up  his 
mind  on  grounds  of  fact,  is  different  in  kind  from 
the  imitator  or  reproducer  of  the  ideas  of  others. 
And  this  is  a  sort  of  originality  which  we  are  all, 
perhaps,  capable  of  attaining.  We  are  amazed  at  men 
whose  capacities  far  transcend  our  own ;  who  have 
inexhaustible  stores  of  knowledge,  and  who  obser\^e 
and  remember  apparently  without  any  effort  or  exer- 
tion of  mind.  But  we  are  hardly  less  struck  by  the 
good  sense  of  others,  who  have  but  slender  abilities, 
yet  never  seem  to  go  wrong  or  to  get  out  of  their 
depth.  In  matters  of  duty  they  are  especially  clear, 
and  they  do  not  allow  themselves  to  be  disturbed 
by  controverted  points  of  theolog}^  The  greater 
intelligences  of  the  world  are  often  led  astray  by 
love  of  popularity,  by  sensitiveness,  by  vanit3^  But 
there  is  also  a  path  of  knowledge  in  which  the  less 
gifted  among  men  may  safely  walk — '  the  wayfaring 
man  shall  not  err  therein' :  it  shall  be  called  the 
path  of  simplicity  and  good  sense,  the  path  of  him 
who  receives  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child. 
It  will  be  instructive  to  consider  why  men  of  great 
ability  so  often  fail  to  make  any  use  of  the  gifts 
which  have  been  entrusted  to  them.  From  indolence, 
is  the  first  answer ;  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  great 
energy  is  a  surer  sign  of  future  eminence  in  life  than 


192  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

any  youthful  cleverness  or  literary  power.  But  there 
are  many  who  are  both  able  and  industrious,  and  yet 
seem  to  make  nothing  of  their  own  lives ;  there  is 
another  reason — intellectual  pride— the  spirit,  which 
in  youth  rebels  against  being  taught,  and  in  mature 
life  derives  nothing  from  the  teaching  of  the  world. 
The  really  able  man  is  not  he  who  learns  everything 
for  himself,  but  he  who  learns  most  from  the  wisdom 
of  other  men.  And  yet  there  may  be  a  third  reason 
why  many  men  fail  in  a  profession,  or  in  the  business 
of  life :  because  they  have  no  knowledge  of  human 
nature  ;  they  do  not  understand  either  themselves  or 
others ;  they  are  incapable  of  influencing  or  of  being 
influenced :  they  are  not  men  of  the  world,  and  do  not 
know  how  to  approach  their  fellow-creatures.  And 
there  may  still  be  other  reasons :  they  are  eccentric 
or  pedantic ;  they  have  never  weeded  out  their  own 
faults  ;  they  are  overgrown  with  egotism  stimulated 
by  disappointment:  they  are  not  men  of  business — 
a  kind  of  ignorance  which  often  ends  in  dishonesty. 
They  fall  into  debt  and  into  other  forms  of  vice  ;  and 
many  other  pictures  might  be  drawm  of  young  men 
gifted  by  nature  who  have  belied  the  promise  of  their 
youth,  who  have  begun  among  the  first  and  ended 
among  the  last. 

And  now  leaving  these  life  failures,  as  I  may  call 
them,  I  will  ask  why  there  are  so  many  failures  at 
the  University  (it  is  the  privilege  of  the  preacher  to 
wander  from  one  topic  to  another,  in  the  hope  that 


XI.]  FAILURE  IN  LIFE  AND  STUDY  193 

he  may  say  something  which   comes   home   to   the 
minds  of  his  hearers  '  be  it  ever  so  homely ').     First, 
among  the  causes  of  failure  at  the  University,  I  should 
be  incHned  to  place  '  neglect  of  health.'     Young  men 
are  seldom  aware  how  easily  the  brain  may  be  over- 
tasked ;   how  delicate  and  sensitive  this  organ  is  in 
many  individuals ;    they  are   apt  to   think  they  can 
do  what   others   do ;    they  work  the  mind  and  the 
body  at  the  same  time — when  they  begin  to  fail  they 
only  increase   the  effort,  and  nothing  can  be  more 
foolish  than  this.     They  do  not  understand  how  to 
manage  themselves,  as  the  phrase  is ;    the  common 
rules  of  diet  and  exercise  are  hardly  thought  of  by 
them :    '  I  can  work  so  much  better  at  night '  is  the 
constant  reply  to  the  physician  or  elder  friend  who 
remonstrates ;    and  they  are  apt  to  be  assured  that 
no  practice  which  is  pleasant  to  them  can  ever  be 
injurious  to  health.     They  find  the  memory  fail,  the 
head  no  longer  clear ;  the  interest  in  study  flags ;  and 
they  attribute   these   symptoms   to  some  mysterious 
cause  with  which   they  have   nothing  to   do.     Will 
they   hear    the   words    of   the   Apostle  ?     '  He   that 
striveth   for   masteries   is   temperate   in   all   things ' : 
yet  it  is  a  more  subtle  kind  of  training  than  that  ot 
the  athlete,  in  which  they  must  exercise  themselves, 
a  training  which  regulates  and  strengthens  body  and 
mind  at  once.     Again  let  them  listen  to  the  words 
of  St.    Paul,  'Wherefore  whether  we   eat  or  drink, 
let  us  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'     The  care  of  his 

O 


194  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

own  health  and  morals  is  the  greatest  trust  which  is 
committed  to  a  young-  man ;  and  often  and  often  the 
loss  of  ability,  the  degeneracy  of  character,  the  want 
of  self-control  is  due  to  his  neglect  of  them. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  this  want  of  self- 
knowledge  shows  itself.  Many  men  have  serious 
intellectual  defects  which  they  never  attempt  to  cure, 
and  therefore  carry  them  into  life  instead  of  leaving 
them  behind  at  school  or  college.  Let  me  take  for 
example  one  such  defect — inaccuracy.  A  student 
cannot  write  a  few  sentences  of  Latin  or  Greek,  he 
cannot  get  through  a  simple  sum  of  arithmetic,  without 
making  a  slip  at  some  stage  of  the  process,  because 
he  loses  his  attention.  Year  after  year  he  goes  on 
indulging  this  slovenly  habit  of  mind ;  the  remon- 
strances of  teachers  are  of  no  avail ;  he  will  not  take 
the  pains  to  be  cured ;  the  inaccurate  desultory  know- 
ledge of  many  things  is  more  acceptable  to  his  mind 
than  the  accurate  knowledge  of  a  few,  and  so  he 
grows  up  and  goes  into  life  unfit  for  any  intellectual 
calling,  unfit  for  any  business  or  profession.  Then 
again  there  is  another  kind  of  inaccuracy  which  con- 
sists in  ignorance  of  the  first  principles  or  beginnings 
of  things ;  when  the  student  has  to  go  back  not 
without  difficulty,  for  there  is  always  a  painfulness 
and  awkwardness  in  learning  last  what  ought  to  have 
been  learned  first.  We  all  know  what  is  meant  by 
a  man  being  '  a  bad  scholar,'  which  to  one  who  has 
studied  Latin  and  Greek  for  ten  or  more  years  of 


XI.]  INACCURACY  AND  BAD   TASTE  195 

his  life  is  justly  held  to  be  a  reproach.  And  there 
are  bad  scholars,  not  only  among  students  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  but  in  every  department  of  knowledge, 
in  Mathematics  as  well  as  in  Classics,  in  Natural 
Science  as  well  as  in  Literature,  in  Law  as  well  as 
in  History ;  there  are  students  who  have  no  power 
of  thinking,  no  clear  recollection  of  what  they  have 
read,  no  exact  perception  of  the  meaning  of  words. 
There  is  another  intellectual  defect  very  common 
in  youth,  yet  also  curable,  if  not  always  by  ourselves, 
at  any  rate  by  the  help  of  others  — '  bad  taste ' — which 
takes  many  forms  both  in  speaking  and  writing :  when 
a  person  talks  about  himself,  when  he  affects  a  style 
of  language  unsuited  to  him,  or  to  his  age  and  posi- 
tion, when  he  discourses  authoritatively  to  his  elders, 
when  he  is  always  asking  questions,  when  his  words 
grate  upon  the  feelings  of  well-bred  and  sensible  men 
and  women,  then  he  is  guilty  of  bad  taste.  Egotism 
or  conceit  is  often  the  source  of  this  bad  taste  in 
conversation ;  it  may  sometimes  arise  only  from 
simplicity  and  ignorance  of  the  world.  There  are 
natures  who  are  always  dreaming  of  full  theatres, 
of  audiences  hanging  on  their  lips,  who  would  like 
to  receive  for  all  their  actions  the  accompanying  meed 
of  approbation.  A  young  person  is  about  to  make 
a  speech — it  is  one  of  the  most  important  things  that 
he  can  do  in  life  (and  one  of  the  most  trying) — 
when  many  persons  are  listening  to  his  words  and  he 
a  w^eak  swimmer  far  out  to   sea ;    he  has  prepared 

O  2 


196  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

what  he  is  going  to  say,  tricked  out  his  oration  with 
metaphors  and  figures  of  speech ;  he  has  seen  him- 
self speaking,  not  exactly  in  the  looking-glass,  but 
in  the  glass  of  his  own  mind ;  and  lo !  the  result  is 
a  miserable  failure.  He  has  mistaken  his  own  powers, 
he  has  struck  a  wrong  note,  pitched  his  speech  in 
a  false  key.  What  can  be  more  humiliating?  Yet, 
perhaps,  it  is  also  the  very  best  lesson  which  he  has 
ever  had  in  life.  Let  him  try  again — (there  was  one 
who  said  that  he  had  tried  at  many  things  and  had 
always  succeeded  at  last).  Let  him  try  again,  and 
not  allow  himself  by  a  little  innocent  merriment  to 
be  deprived  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  useful 
accomplishments  which  any  man  can  possess ;  the 
power  of  addressing  an  audience. 

There  is  another  kind  of  bad  taste  which  is  dis- 
played, not  in  manners  nor  in  speech,  but  in  writing. 
As  persons  have  a  difficulty  in  knowing  their  own 
characters,  so  has  a  writer  in  judging  of  his  own 
compositions.  Writings  are  like  children,  whom 
a  parent  can  never  regard  in  the  same  impartial 
manner  in  which  they  are  viewed  by  strangers.  We 
too  easily  grow  fond  of  them.  There  are  many 
faults  which  are  apt  to  beset  men  when  they  take 
a  pen  in  their  hands.  They  attempt  fine  writing, 
which  of  all  kinds  of  writing  is  the  worst ;  they  lose 
the  sense  of  proportion ;  they  deem  anything  which 
they  happen  to  know  relevant  to  the  subject  in  hand. 
They  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  the  most  important 


XL]         FAULTS  IN  STYLE  AND  METHOD        197 

of  all  principles  of  composition — '  logical  connexion.' 
They  sometimes  Imitate  the  language  of  famous 
writers,  such  as  Lord  Macaulay  or  Carlyle,  and  with 
a  ludicrous  result,  because  they  cease  to  be  themselves, 
and  the  attempt  even  If  It  were  worth  making  cannot 
be  sustained.  It  was  excellent  advice  that  was  once 
given  to  a  young  writer,  '  Always  to  blot  the  finest 
passages  of  his  own  writings ' ;  and  any  one  of  us 
will  do  well  to  regard  with  suspicion  any  simile  or 
brilliant  figure  of  speech,  which  Impairs  the  connexion 
or  disturbs  the  proportion  of  the  whole.  For  In  the 
w^hole  Is  contained  the  real  excellence  of  a  writing, 
in  the  paragraph,  not  in  the  sentence ;  In  the  chapter, 
not  In  the  paragraph ;  in  the  book,  rather  than  In 
the  chapter.  And  the  character  of  the  worker  dimly 
seen  may  be  often  greater  than  the  book  which  he 
has  written. 

Yet  one  more  cause  of  failure  in  our  lives  here 
may  be  briefly  spoken  of — the  want  of  method  or 
order.  Men  do  not  consider  sufficiently,  not  merely 
what  Is  suited  to  the  generality,  but  what  Is  suited 
to  themselves  individually.  They  have  different  gifts 
and  therefore  their  studies  should  take  a  different 
course.  One  man  is  capable  of  continuous  thought 
and  reading,  while  another  has  not  the  full  use  of 
his  faculties  for  more  than  an  hour  or  two  at  a  time. 
It  is  clear  that  persons  so  differently  constituted 
should  proceed  on  a  different  plan.  Again,  one 
man  Is  gifted  with  powers  of  memory  and  acquisition, 


198  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xi. 

another  with  thought  and  reflection ;  it  is  equally 
clear  that  there  ought  to  be  a  corresponding  differ- 
ence in  the  branches  of  study  to  which  they  devote 
themselves.  Things  are  done  in  half  the  time  and 
with  half  the  toil  when  they  are  done  upon  a  well- 
considered  system ;  when  there  is  no  waste  and 
nothing  has  to  be  unlearned.  As  mechanical  forces 
pressed  into  the  service  of  man  increase  a  hundred- 
fold more  and  more  his  bodily  strength,  so  does 
the  use  of  method, — of  all  the  methods  which  science 
has  already  invented,  (for  as  actions  are  constantly 
passing  into  habits,  so  is  science  always  being  con- 
verted into  method) — of  all  the  methods  which  an 
individual  can  devise  for  himself,  enlarge  and  extend 
the  mind.  And  yet  how  rarely  does  any  one  ever 
make  a  plan  of  study  for  himself— or  a  plan  of  his 
own  life. 

Let  me  illustrate  the  subject  of  which  I  am  speaking 
from  the  sphere  of  business.  Suppose  a  person  of 
ability  to  be  engaged  in  the  management  of  a  great 
institution— such  as  a  public  school,  or  a  manufac- 
tory— will  not  his  first  aim  be  to  organize  such  an 
institution  in  the  fittest  manner?  He  will  consider 
how  the  work  which  he  has  to  do  will  be  carried  on 
in  the  shortest  time,  at  the  least  cost  and  with  the 
smallest  expenditure  of  labour.  He  will  see  his  own 
objects  clearly,  and  from  time  to  time  he  will  apply 
proper  methods  of  comparison  and  examination  which 
will  enable  him  to  discover  whether  they  are  being 


XI.]  THE  SENSE  OF  PROPORTION  199 

carried  out.  He  will  not  devote  himself  to  small 
matters  which  can  be  done  by  others.  He  will  know 
whom  to  trust;  he  will  seize  upon  the  main  points, 
and  above  all  he  will  avoid  waste. 

Now  there  may  be  a  waste  in  study  as  well  as  in 
business :  such  a  waste,  for  example,  is  the  idleness  of 
reading-  when  we  sit  in  an  armchair  by  the  fire  and 
receive  passively  the  impression  of  books  without 
thought,  without  judgment,  without  any  effort  of 
'  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  "  our  minds."  '  We  may 
learn  Latin  and  Greek  in  such  a  manner  that  we 
never  acquire  any  real  sense  of  the  meaning  of  words 
or  constructions,  but  only  remember  how  they  are  to 
be  translated  in  a  particular  passage.  Can  this  be 
called  education  ?  So  we  may  learn  history  in  such 
a  fashion  that  we  only  recollect  dates  and  facts  and 
have  no  sense  of  the  laws  which  perv^ade  it,  or  interest 
in  the  human  beings  who  are  the  actors  in  it :  Is  not 
this  again  a  waste  of  time  ?  Lastly,  in  philosophy, 
that  study  which  has  so  great  an  interest  for  us  at 
a  certain  time  of  life,  which  makes  a  sort  of  epoch 
in  the  mental  history  of  many,  from  which  we  are 
likely  to  experience  the  greatest  good  and  the  greatest 
harm ;  in  philosophy  we  may  go  on  putting  words 
in  the  place  of  things,  unlearning  instead  of  learning, 
losing  definiteness  and  clearness  in  the  extent  of  the 
prospect  opening  upon  us,  until  we  are  fairly  over- 
mastered by  it,  seeming  to  have  acquired  new  powers 
of  thought  so  vast  that  they  prevent  us  from  thinking 


200  COLLEGE   SERMONS  [xi. 

for  ourselves,  or  expressing  ourselves  like  other  men  : 
'And  this  also  is  vanity.' 

I  have  not  attempted  in  the  compass  of  a  short 
sermon  to  enumerate  all  the  difficulties  which  beset 
us  in  the  life  of  study :  the  sketch  of  a  great  subject 
is  necessarily  imperfect;  each  one  must  fill  up  the 
outline  for  himself.  I  will  ask  you  to  remember  some 
of  these  remarks,  not  for  any  special  value  of  them, 
but  because  they  may  lead  you  on  to  make  similar 
reflections  for  yourselves.  To  most  of  us  such 
thoughts  rarely  occur  until  the  time  has  passed  for 
applying  them  to  our  own  life.  Yet  I  know  also 
how  small  is  the  effect  of  experience  which  they 
have  not  bought  for  themselves  on  the  minds  and 
characters  of  the  young. 

Lastly,  let  me  remind  you  that  study  is  a  service, 
perhaps  the  highest  service  that  we  can  render  to 
God :  it  teaches  us  His  purposes ;  it  reconciles  us 
with  His  laws ;  it  enables  us  to  see  the  truth  more 
nearly  as  He  sees  it ;  it  shows  us  the  revelation  of 
His  spirit,  in  the  lives  of  great  and  good  men.  Study 
is  the  greater  part  of  our  business  here ;  and  we  shall 
hardly  serve  Him  in  any  other  way  if  we  do  not 
serve  Him  in  that.  At  the  foundation  of  all  true 
study  there  lie  moral  and  religious  qualities,  such  as 
honesty,  including  accuracy,  the  disinterested  love  of 
truth,  the  desire  to  impart  knowledge  to  all  and  to 
make  it  minister  to  the  wants  of  our  fellow-men.  Is 
there  anything  superstitious  in  beginning  our  studies 


XI.]        STUDY  AS   THE  SERVICE   OF  GOD        201 

with  a  prayer  to  God,  either  spoken  or  silent,  that  He 
would  enlighten  and  strengthen  our  minds,  because 
we  are  not  seeking  our  own  fame  or  success,  but 
only  His  glory ;  that  He  would  give  us  peace  and 
truth,  and  allow  us  to  cast  the  burdens  of  study  upon 
Him ;  that  He  would  enable  us  to  keep  the  mind 
above  the  body  in  all  the  fretful  nervous  trials  of 
disease,  in  the  sad  hours  when  our  faculties  are  dis- 
tracted ?    As  Milton  says — 

*  So  much  the  rather  thou,  Celestial  Light, 
Shine  inward,  and  the  mind  through  all  her  powers 
Irradiate  ;  there  plant  eyes,  all  mist  from  thence 
Purge  and  disperse.' 

So  we  too  may  pray  God  to  deliver  us  from  the 
darkness  of  prejudice,  from  the  false  colours  of  sen- 
timent, from  the  veil  of  self-conceit  which  so  easily 
envelops  us ;  that  our  eyes  may  truly  see  Him  and 
our  minds  perceive  Him  in  history,  in  nature,  in  man. 
Let  us  pray  that  the  knowledge  which  we  acquire 
here  may  assist  us  in  fulfilling  His  work ;  in  lessening 
the  sufferings  and  helping  the  needs  of  our  fellow - 
men ;  and  lead  us  through  the  things  of  sense  up  to 
that  perfect  idea  of  goodness  and  truth  which  He 
Himself  is. 


XII 


^  MAN  SHALL  NOT  LIVE  BY  BREAD  ALONE,  BUT 
BY  EVERY  WORD  THAT  PROCEEDETH  OUT  OF  THE 
MOUTH  Luke  iv.  4. 

The  narrative  from  which  the  text  is  taken  is  com- 
monly called  '  the  temptation  of  Christ ' ;  it  is  found 
with  slight  variations  of  form,  near  the  beginning- 
of  the  two  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke ; 
and  the  subject  of  it  is  just  alluded  to  in  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Mark.  The  externals  of  the  scene  which  is 
described  by  the  Evangelist  are  strange  and  unfa- 
miliar to  us ;  we  can  hardly  place  them  before  the 
mind's  eye ;  rarely,  if  ever,  have  they  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  picture.  The  powers  of  good  and  evil 
meet  together  in  the  persons  of  Christ  and  Satan ; 
in  the  desert  among  the  wild  beasts,  at  the  top  of 
a  mountain,  on  the  roof  of  the  temple.  The  tempta- 
tions of  the  world  are  set  against  the  Spirit  of 
God.  The  first  temptation  is  directed  to  the  bodily 
appetites:  the  Lord  had  been  fasting  forty  days, 
and  was  afterwards  an  hungered.  The  power  of 
evil  taking  advantage  of  the  situation,  says  mockingly, 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  April  20,  1879. 


THE   TEMPTATION  203 

'  If  Thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  these 
stones  be  made  bread.'  To  which  Christ  repHes  by 
the  citation  of  a  singular  and  allegorical  passage  in 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  in  which  the  manna  or 
bread  of  heaven  is  contrasted  with  ordinary  bread : 
'  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone ' ;  or,  as  the  words 
are  given  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  which  follows 
more  closely  the  original  text,  '  Man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God.'  The  second  temptation 
is  addressed  to  the  ambitious  element  in  human 
nature :  '  I  will  give  Thee  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  If  Thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.'  To 
this  suggestion  of  evil  Christ  replies,  not  by  any 
counter- assertion  of  a  divine  or  moral  right  to  empire, 
but  simply,  '  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve.'  The  third  temptation 
is  aimed  at  that  principle  In  man  which  is  always 
asking  of  God  for  some  external  sign ;  which  is  the 
habit  of  turning  figures  of  speech  into  matters  of 
fact ;  which  cannot  be  satisfied  that  '  we  are  safe 
under  His  wings,'  just  because  the  laws  of  nature 
observe  the  accustomed  course  :  '  Cast  Thyself  down, 
for  it  is  written.  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  over 
Thee.'  Such  a  voice  has  been  sometimes  heard 
knocking  in  the  breast  of  some  vain  or  half-deceived 
prophet ;  Christ  answers,  for  his  instruction  and  for 
ours :  '  It  is  written.  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God.'     In   all  these  answers  of  Christ  we  may 


204  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

observe  two  things:  first  that  they  are  clothed  in 
the  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  secondly, 
that  in  all  of  them  the  ordinary  is  preferred  to  the 
extraordinary,  the  spiritual  and  moral  to  the  tem- 
poral and  outward. 

Whether  this  narrative  is  a  parable  or  allegory  in 
which  principles  of  eternal  truth  have  been  personified, 
or  a  vision  seen  by  Christ  Himself  and  repeated  by 
Him  to  His  disciples— like  that  vision  of  Peter  in 
which  the  vessel  full  of  meats  was  let  down  from 
heaven  when  he  too  was  an  hungered,  and  he  was 
taught  that  nothing  which  God  had  cleansed  was 
common  or  unclean ;  or  whether  we  are  to  imagine 
two  beings  in  human  form  standing  face  to  face  with 
one  another,  is  a  question  into  which  I  shall  not 
further  inquire.  The  meaning  and  not  the  form 
of  the  narrative  is  important  to  us ;  and  the  meaning 
is  apt  to  be  lost  in  the  form.  If  the  life  of  Christ 
is  ever  written  over  again  in  our  own  age  and 
country,  it  should  not  be  as  a  history  of  wonders, 
but  as  a  history  of  truths  w^hich  seem  to  be  always 
fading  away  before  the  eyes  of  man,  and  are  always 
needing  to  be  revived.  It  should  not  be  critical,  or 
sentimental,  or  picturesque,  but  it  should  seek  to 
bring  the  mind  and  thoughts  of  Christ  a  little 
nearer  to  the  human  heart.  To  do  this  in  the 
spirit  and  not  in  the  letter,  not  rashly  applying 
the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  to  an  altered  world, 
but  strengthening  and  deepening  their  inward  power 


XII.]  TREATMENT  OF  THE  WORDS  OF  CHRIST  205 

and  life,  may  be  the  work  of  another  generation  in 
theology. 

And  now  leaving  these  general  reflections  which 
naturally  occur  to  us  whenever,  as  in  sermons,  we 
seek  to  decipher  or  interpret  ancient  writings,  let 
us  confine  ourselves  to  the  words  of  the  text :  '  Man 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth,'  or,  as  the  last  clause 
is  read  in  the  best  Greek  manuscript,  '  but  by  every 
word.'  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word— there  the  verse  stops.  The  scope  of 
the  clause  has  been  enlarged  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel 
by  this  addition,  '  but  by  every  word  which  pro- 
ceedeth out  of  the  mouth  of  God,'  which  is  probably 
taken  from  the  original  passage  in  Deuteronomy. 
But  I  propose  to  consider  the  words  in  the  narrower 
sense. 

Could  man  be  happy  without  speech,  living  like 
the  animals  in  a  kind  of  innocence,  but  deprived  of 
any  higher  thought  or  communion  with  his  fellows  ? 
There  have  been  philosophers  who  have  wanted  to 
bring  him  back  to  a  state  of  nature,  who  would 
deprive  him  of  all  philosophy  and  of  all  reHgion, 
who  would  have  him  give  up  the  hardly  won  in- 
heritance of  ages,  that  he  might  be  without  evil  and 
without  good,  that  he  might  be  freed  from  some  of 
the  anxieties  of  life  and  have  no  portion  in  what  is 
best  and  highest  in  it.  Such  teachers  should  begin, 
if  this  were  possible,  by  taking  from  him  the  faculty 


2o6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

of  speech,  out  of  which  and  by  the  help  of  which 
all  his  reflections  on  himself  and  on  others  seem  to 
be  developed.  And  again,  there  have  been  so  called 
saints,  such  as  St.  Bruno,  the  founder  of  the  Charter- 
house, whose  institutions  and  ideas  still  linger  among 
us,  who  from  an  opposite  point  of  view,  seeing  how 
language  may  be  abused  and  how  closely  it  is 
entwined  with  the  mental  faculties,  have  imagined 
that  the  tongue  should  be  used  only  in  the  service 
of  God,  and  have  therefore  denied  themselves  the 
blessing  of  daily  converse  with  their  fellow- creatures, 
as  if  the  glory  of  God  would  be  manifested  by  disusing 
the  gifts  which  show  forth  His  glory ;  as  if  without 
language  there  could  be  any  sense  or  knowledge  or 
progress  among  men ;  as  if  we  could  become  the 
sons  of  God  by  returning  to  the  level  of  the  animals. 
Human  speech  is  also  a  divine  gift,  and  so  the  two 
versions  of  the  text  meet  in  one.  The  more  we 
consider  it,  the  more  wonderful  does  it  appear.  It 
is  the  outward  expression  of  that  reason  which  is 
the  image  of  God  Himself  Its  origin  is  a  mystery 
to  us ;  we  see  only  that  it  is  the  meeting-point  of 
our  intellectual  faculties,  from  which  all  our  inquiries 
into  the  nature  of  the  mind  must  proceed,  and  through 
which  they  must  be  conducted.  We  cannot  withdraw 
ourselves  from  it  or  get  rid  of  it  or  imagine  ourselves 
without  it ;  it  is  the  limit  of  all  our  speculations ; 
it  is  also  the  source  of  them.  The  consideration 
of  it  teaches  us  to  realize  our  place  in  the  world  ; 


XII.]       THE  GIFT  AND  DUTY  OF  SPEECH      207 

it  is  the  link  which  connects  us  with  all  other  men  in 
past  or  future  ages.  Though  in  many  of  its  uses 
quite  trivial,  it  is  also  the  most  wonderful  of  human 
powers,  which  we  should  sometimes  contemplate  from 
the  side  of  its  greatness  as  w^ell  as  of  common  use. 
We  must  not  lose  or  impair  this  glorious  inheritance ; 
whether  we  speak  or  write,  let  us  try  to  speak  and 
write  as  well  as  we  can. 

I  propose  in  this  sermon  to  consider  a  subject  often 
spoken  of  in  Scripture,  the  government  of  the  tongue, 
as  it  would  be  called  by  old-fashioned  writers,  or  as 
we  may  describe  it  in  more  modern  phraseology,  the 
habit  of  conversation.  There  is  a  sermon  by  Bishop 
Butler  on  the  same  subject  to  which  I  shall  hereafter 
refer.  The  habit  of  conversation  is  often  supposed 
to  be  a  natural  gift,  which  is  not  learned  or  taught, 
but  like  our  native  language  itself  can  only  be 
acquired  by  use.  Children  hear  a  great  deal  about 
the  duty  of  silence  ;  they  are  seldom  made  to  under- 
stand the  virtues  and  graces  of  speech.  Few  persons 
ever  train  themselves  to  speak  correctly,  or  even  to 
pronounce  distinctly ;  there  are  some  who  will  take 
pains  to  catch  a  foreign  accent  when  they  are  only 
half  intelligible  in  their  own  language.  Many  again 
are  quite  careless  whether  their  topics  of  conversation 
have  any  meaning  or  interest  for  those  whom  they 
are  addressing;  they  have  hardly  given  a  thought 
to  the  various  relations  in  which  mankind  stand  to 
one   another;    they  have  no  discrimination  or   tact, 


2o8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

but  speak  to  everybody  in  the  same  way.     Thus  the 
finer  part  of  manners,  what  to  say,  what  to  avoid,  is 
lost ;  and  much  of  the  grace  of  Hfe  and  of  the  good 
will  of  men   towards   one   another   is   extinguished. 
They  are   little   evils  of  which  I  am  speaking,  but 
they  are  continually  occurring,  every  day  and  every 
hour   of  the   day,  and  when   added   up   they  make 
a  great  part  of  the  total  sum ;  and  they  sting  mostly 
not  from  ill-nature,  or  from  want  of  courtesy,  but  from 
want   of  thought   and   attention   to  a  subject  about 
which  thought  and  attention  are  seldom  employed. 
If  we  were  to  say  that  a  man's  conversation  must 
flow  out  of  his  whole  character  there  would  be  truth 
in   this.      Every  one  knows  that  he  cannot  at  any 
moment  say  just  what  he  pleases ;   he  is  determined 
by   his    own    antecedents   and    circumstances.       But 
though   it   is  true  that  a  man's  conversation  is  the 
representation  of  himself,  yet  it  may  also  be  a  very 
inadequate  representation  of  him.     For  he  may  be 
one    who    is   not   able   to   speak   until   the   time   of 
speaking  is   past,  whose   thoughts  when   he   begins 
to   express   them  are  always  getting  into   disorder, 
who  is  reserved  and  feels  more  than  he  says,  who  is 
master  of  a  subject  when  he  is  alone,  but  never  does 
justice    to    himself  when    in    company  with   others. 
There  are  other  causes  too  which  prevent  unreserved 
converse   between   one   person  and  another.      They 
belong   to    different  worlds,  they  are   cast  in  a  dif- 
ferent mould,  their  minds  are  set  at  a  different  pitch. 


XII.]     CONVERSATION  AND  FRIENDLINESS     209 

Society  is  artificial  and  they  are  afraid  of  infringing- 
its  proprieties.  They  are  never  sure  of  how  their 
words  will  be  received  by  those  whom  they  address, 
for  we  are  very  much  dependent  on  one  another  in 
conversation ;  the  good  speaker  must  have  good 
listeners,  and  everybody  must  make  his  contribu- 
tion to  the  feast.  When  in  company,  we  feel  that 
we  are  part  of  a  whole,  meeting  for  the  purpose  not 
of  solitary,  but  of  mutual  enjoyment.  We  all  know 
what  an  effect  is  produced  in  a  room  by  warmth  and 
light  and  air.  It  is  something  analogous  to  this 
which  we  seek  to  cultivate  in  society ;  the  warmth 
of  friendhness,  the  brightness  of  intelligence,  and  the 
freshness  of  sincerity.  When  the  hearts  of  human 
beings  melt,  and  feel  kindly  towards  one  another, 
and  their  minds  are  quickened  by  mutual  contact, 
that  is  one  of  the  highest  pleasures  of  which  we  are 
capable.  Such  occasions  are  not  mere  pastimes ; 
they  really  do  good  by  bringing  men  together,  and 
making  them  understand  one  another ;  they  are  days 
to  be  noted  in  our  calendars.  They  make  one  family, 
one  company,  one  neighbourhood,  to  differ  greatly 
from  another. 

But  how  is  this  comparatively  high  social  standard 
to  be  attained  ?  If  we  look  for  wit  and  talent  every- 
where, we  shall  be  disappointed ;  for  they  are  not  to 
be  found  in  the  majority  of  mankind.  We  must 
depend  on  other  elements  for  the  pleasantness  of 
social   life   and   our  relations   to   other  men.      First 

P 


2IO  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

there  is  kindness — that  is  a  language  that  has  no 
conventions,  but  is  understood  by  everybody,  rich 
and  poor  ahke.  Who  has  not  felt  the  difference 
between  the  atmosphere  of  one  house  and  of  another, 
the  glad  welcome  with  which  we  are  greeted  by  one 
person  at  the  entrance,  while  the  mannerism  or 
stiffness  or  self  consciousness  of  another  freezes  and 
offends  us  ?  When  a  man  is  thinking  and  caring, 
not  about  himself,  or  about  the  finery  of  his  enter- 
tainment, or  how  he  appears  in  the  eyes  of  his  guests, 
but  about  others ;  when  he  is  really  attentive  to  their 
least  wants  and  sensitive  to  their  feelings,  he  soon 
finds  a  way  to  their  hearts.  When  he  speaks  to 
them  not  of  his  own  projects  or  plans,  or  favourite 
notions,  but  about  them  and  theirs,  conversation 
soon  begins  sweetly  to  flow;  when  by  the  exercise 
of  tact  he  can  draw  the  reserved  or  the  diffident  or 
the  young  out  of  their  shell,  he  will  quickly  find 
a  response.  He  is  twice  blessed  if  he  can  say 
a  pleasant  or  soothing  word  to  the  aged  or  stupid ; 
to  those  who  are  troubled  by  some  real  or  false 
shame,  or  from  inexperience  feel  themselves  at  a  loss 
in  society.  Such  an  one  would  be  said  in  a  figure 
to  shed  light  in  the  dweUing.  For  kindness  has 
a  wonderful  power  of  transmuting  and  converting 
human  beings.  And  if  a  man,  instead  of  always  in 
thought  coming  round  to  himself,  were  always  getting 
away  from  himself,  he  would  attain  a  great  freedom 
and  enjoyment  of  society.     The  thought  of  self,  with 


XII.]  CHARITY  AND   SINCERITY  211 

which  we  are  so  much  occupied,  is  really  a  burden 
which  is  weighing-  us  down,  a  shadow  which  follows 
us  wherever  we  go,  a  cloud  which  intercepts  the  light 
of  heaven,  a  barrier  which  is  interposed  between  us 
and  our  fellow-men. 

A  second  element  in  a  happy  and  healthy  state  of 
society  is  sincerity,  and  the  mutual  confidence  which 
is  given  by  it.  We  want  to  be  able  to  trust  the  circle 
in  which  we  habitually  live.  We  do  not  wish  to  have 
the  words  which  we  have  spoken  in  the  confidence 
of  friendship  lightly  repeated  to  all  the  world,  or 
what  was  whispered  in  the  ear  noised  abroad  on  the 
housetop ;  we  would  not  be  gossipped  about,  or 
misrepresented,  or  laughed  at.  We  do  not  wish  that, 
the  moment  the  door  is  closed  upon  us,  our  char- 
acters, our  fortunes,  our  behaviour  should  instantly 
be  the  subject  of  discussion,  or  that  we  should  be 
sacrificed  by  our  best  friends  to  some  biting  jest. 
We  feel  that  such  practices,  though  not  uncommon, 
are  ignoble,  and  tend  to  degrade  the  tone  of  society. 
It  is  not  that  such  criticisms  or  jests  do  much  harm 
to  those  who  are  the  subject  of  them  (no  man  should 
trouble  himself  about  what  is  said  behind  his  back), 
but  they  tend  to  injure  the  characters  of  those  who 
utter  them.  I  will  not  say  that  we  should  never 
speak  about  persons,  for  such  a  rule  could  not  be 
obsen^ed,  and  would  exclude  the  most  interesting  of 
all  topics  of  conversation.  It  is  clearly  right  that 
we   should   learn   from  others  something  about  the 

P  2 


212  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

natures  and  dispositions  of  those  with  whom  we 
have  to  do,  and  that  they  should  hear  about  us 
in  Hke  manner.  No  one  will  maintain  that  the 
characters  of  public  men  are  not  a  fair  subject  for 
discussion.  But  yet,  in  speaking  of  persons,  we 
should  also  be  on  our  guard  against  many  faults 
which  easily  beset  us,  against  the  petty  jealousy  of 
our  equals,  or  the  popular  eny^  of  the  great  which 
hears,  not  wholly  displeased,  of  something  to  their 
disadvantage.  A  generous  person,  if  a  friend  is 
attacked  in  a  mixed  company,  will  always  hang 
out  a  flag  of  opposition ;  and  will  sometimes  find 
himself  betrayed  into  doing  more  justice  to  a  politi- 
cal adversary  than  the  strict  rules  of  party  would 
allow. 

The  Apostle  St.  James  describes  the  tongue  in 
language  which  we  are  unwilling  to  apply  to  the 
society  of  our  own  day.  '  The  tongue  is  a  fire, 
a  world  of  iniquity,  which  defileth  the  whole  body, 
and  setteth  on  fire  the  course  of  nature  and  is  set 
on  fire  of  hell.'  Yet  there  is  an  aspect  of  society 
to  which  this  is  not  wholly  inapplicable,  though  the 
words  may  be  rather  too  strong  for  our  nerves. 
When  we  see  the  slanders  with  which  the  characters 
of  men  are  attacked,  the  groundless  reports  which 
are  circulated  about  them,  with  the  addition  that  there 
must  be  something  in  them  because  they  are  every- 
where repeated,  the  incapability  of  doing  justice  to 
others,  especially  when  they  are  of  a  different  religious 


XII.]  SILENCE  AND  SPEECH  213 

sect  or  party  or  of  another  class  of  society,  the 
levity  with  which  great  truths  and  the  love  of  truth 
itself  is  regarded  ;  we  feel  that  a  Jewish  prophet 
might  have  a  great  deal  to  say  against  our  own  times. 
'  I  said  I  will  take  heed  unto  my  ways,  that  I  offend 
not  with  my  tongue' — for  care  is  required  in  us  all, 
lest  we  should  unwittingly  participate  in  these  things, 
and,  instead  of  raising  the  society  in  which  we  move 
to  a  higher  level,  fall  ourselves  to  a  lower. 

The  moral  teacher  who  wrote  the  sermon  on  the 
government  of  the  tongue  already  referred  to  seems 
to  think  that  silence  is  the  great  remedy  for  the 
abuse  of  speech.  And  in  a  similar  spirit  we  have 
heard  it  said  that  speech  is  silver,  but  silence  golden  ; 
and  of  a  great  man  of  our  own  times,  who  poured 
himself  out  in  conversation  freely,  it  was  wittily  said 
that  flashes  of  silence  adorned  his  eloquence.  This 
is  one  of  the  commonplaces  often  repeated  in  the 
pulpit  and  elsewhere,  but  which  does  not  rest  upon 
any  real  experience  of  life.  For  the  truth  is  that 
any  amicable  conversation,  however  trivial,  about  the 
weather,  about  the  crops,  about  the  lengthening  of 
the  days  of  the  year,  about  shooting  or  fishing,  about 
buying  and  selling,  is  better  than  none  at  all,  because 
it  promotes  friendship  and  good  fellowship.  There 
is  nothing  so  trivial  which  if  said  in  a  certain  way — 
an  inquiry  about  a  child,  an  animal,  a  flattering  word 
about  health  or  looks— may  not  be  a  token  and 
assurance  of  good-will. 


214  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

Yet  besides  the  desire  to  promote  conversation, 
there  must  also  be  the  materials  for  it.  Every  person 
should  have  some  subject  of  interest  which  he  can 
contribute  to  the  common  stock.  In  one  society 
literature,  in  another  science,  in  another  politics,  in 
another  business,  will  be  the  prevailing  topic,  and 
we  must  have  some  knowledge  of  them  before  we  can 
join  in  the  discussion  of  them.  The  temper  of  some 
companies  will  lead  them  to  give  or  receive  infor- 
mation ;  of  others,  to  argue  or  dispute.  Gaiety  and 
seriousness  will  alternate  with  one  another.  If  we 
cannot  furnish  a  jest,  we  may  at  any  rate  possess 
the  cheerfulness  and  good -humour  which  thankfully 
appreciates  one.  An  ancient  writer  has  an  inquiry, 
'  Whether  there  is  any  impropriety  in  asking  ques- 
tions at  a  feast  ? '  which  he  answers  very  sensibly  by 
saying  that  if  they  are  interesting  to  our  companions, 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  refrain.  And  we 
might  ask  in  modern  times  a  similar  question,  whether 
a  man  shall  speak  of  his  own  calling  or  profession — 
the  merchant  of  his  dealings,  the  lawyer  of  his  cases, 
the  scholar  of  his  books ;  and  the  answer  may  very 
fairly  be  that  of  Plutarch,  that  if  such  topics  are  likely 
to  be  agreeable  to  the  company,  there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  abstain  from  the  subject  with  which  of 
all  others  he  is  best  acquainted. 

And  there  must  be  listeners  as  wxll  as  talkers ; 
these  too  may  give  a  charm  to  society.  It  is  not 
an   uncommon   reflection    that    somebody   talks   too 


XII.]  MARRING   OF  CONVERSATION  215 

much,  that  he  has  not  allowed  others  to  speak,  that 
the  words  have  fallen  too  continuously  and  unin- 
terruptedly from  his  lips,  and,  as  happened  to  the 
poor  man  at  the  pool  of  Siloam,  we  feel  that  he 
steps  before  us  and  unfairly  deprives  us  of  our  turn. 
And  there  are  others  again  who  do  not  say  much 
themselves,  but  have  the  art  of  drawing  out  their 
companions ;  who  do  not  throw  the  ball  but  take  it 
up,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  and  will  hardly 
let  the  least  word  fall  to  the  ground  without  a  re- 
sponse ;  who  are  thinking  not  of  themselves  or  of 
their  own  interests,  but  of  the  persons  who  are 
addressing  them,  and  are  finding  out  the  subjects 
which  interest  them.  These  two  extremes  illustrate 
very  well  the  true  nature  of  social  intercourse.  In 
its  higher  sense  it  is  not  the  creation  of  one  mind, 
but  of  several ;  and  there  are  many  parts  in  it ;  and 
the  humbler  parts  are  within  the  reach  of  most  of  us, 
if  we  could  only  lay  aside  the  weakness  that  so  easily 
besets  us,  I  mean  the  consciousness  of  self  When 
there  is  the  temper  of  sympathy  in  us  it  hardly 
matters  whether  we  say  little  or  much  to  others  in 
company ;  the  friendly  smile,  the  ready  attention,  the 
kind  pressure  of  the  hand,  is  enough  to  make  us 
understood  by  them,  and  to  make  all  things  known 
to  us. 

If  we  reflect  on  the  matter,  we  shall  see  that  by  far 
the  greatest  instrument  of  education  in  after-life  is 
conversation.      We    may   always    be    learning   from 


2i6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

others  if  we  will,  and  deriving  from  them  some  new 
interest,  or  some  new  element  of  character,  laying 
up  in  our  minds  for  constant  intercourse  with  our 
fellows  that  greatest  of  all  earthly  treasures,  the  know- 
ledge of  the  world.  And  this  charm  and  blessing 
of  human  life  is  not  confined  to  any  one  class  of 
society ;  though  it  is  true  that  the  minds  of  men  and 
women  may  be  so  absorbed  in  the  toil  of  making 
money,  and  in  the  cares  of  a  household,  that  they 
have  no  pleasant  word  to  say  to  one  another  at  the 
hour  of  meals  or  relaxation.  But  it  is  also  true  that 
a  pleasant  stream  of  conversation  may  spring  up, 
coming  perhaps  more  sweetly  from  nature,  in  the 
house  of  the  artisan,  or  the  trader,  as  well  as  of  the 
rich  and  noble ;  and  there  may  be  real  refinement  in 
the  one  and  the  want  of  refinement  in  the  other. 

For  children  too  there  is  no  greater  instrument  of 
education  than  the  conversation  which  they  hear  at 
home.  It  is  unjust  to  them  when  nothing  is  spoken 
of  before  them  but  the  trifles  of  dress,  the  gossip  of 
the  neighbourhood,  the  cares  of  the  household  which 
press  too  heavily  upon  the  parents,  the  follies  and 
vanities  of  the  world,  which  are  hardly  apprehended 
by  their  innocent  minds.  They  are  naturally  imita- 
tive, and  a  great  part  of  their  characters  is  derived 
from  their  parents.  If  there  is  no  life  or  mirth  in 
a  house,  the  children  of  the  house  will  commonly  be 
dull  and  stupid  ;  if  they  never  hear  subjects  rationally 
discussed,   they  will   not   learn  to  think  or  reason  ; 


XII.]  EDUCATION  BY  CONVERSATION         217 

if  the  world  in  which  we  live  is  allowed  to  pass 
unheeded  by,  they  will  be  without  interests,  listless 
and  unobservant.  This  home  education  which  they 
acquire  insensibly  is  as  important  as  the  more  formal 
work  of  the  school,  and  it  is  as  much  our  duty  to 
provide  food  for  their  minds  as  for  their  bodies. 
'  They  do  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth.' 

But  still  something  more  than  kindness,  or  sin- 
cerity, or  stores  of  knowledge,  or  modesty  and  good- 
will, is  required  to  give  conversation  its  true  and 
better  character.  This  something  may  be  described 
as  an  elevation  above  the  lower  interests  of  life.  The 
best  feast  would  be  spoiled,  if  the  host  and  his  guests 
only  spoke  of  the  dishes  served  up  at  the  table ;  the 
merriest  evening  would  have  painful  association,  if  it 
were  passed  only  in  gossip  and  scandal,  and  ludicrous 
descriptions  of  others.  There  may  be  laughter  in 
abundance  and  yet  we  may  leave  the  house  with  the 
sense  of  frivolity  and  weariness,  conscious  that  we 
are  none  the  better  for  having  been  there.  But  how 
is  this  evil  to  be  met  ?  I  am  far  from  recommending 
that  we  should  introduce  out  of  place  virtuous  and 
moral  remarks  with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of 
conversation.  Sermons  are  for  the  pulpit;  good 
advice  may  sometime  be  whispered  in  the  ear.  But 
the  first  object  of  society  is  not  mutual  improvement, 
but  amusement ;  and  through  amusement,  if  at  all, 
instruction  should  be  given.     The  remark  of  another 


2i8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

may  Incidentally  teach  us  a  lesson,  an  anecdote  may 
open  new  views  into  life,  the  presence  or  the  words 
of  a  distinguished  man  may  give  us  a  higher  type 
of  thought  or  of  character.  But  any  one  who  went 
into  society  with  the  avowed  intention  of  teaching 
others  would  be  likely  to  do  more  harm  than  good. 
Then  how  is  this  higher  tone  to  be  attained?  No 
definite  answer  can  be  given  to  this  question,  for 
superiority  of  manners  must  for  the  most  part  spring 
from  superiority  of  character.  Yet  a  few  illustra- 
tions may  realize  to  us  what  Is  meant.  Why  has 
one  man  weight  and  authority,  another  not  ?  Why 
is  it  impossible  to  take  a  liberty  with  one  man,  while 
the  levity  of  another  almost  seems  to  invite  undue 
familiarity  ?  Why  is  the  licentious  jest,  the  ill-natured 
remark,  never  made  in  the  presence  of  one  man, 
while  another  is  always  Introducing  them  ?  Why 
does  a  single  person  often  exert  such  a  spell  or 
charm  over  a  whole  company  ?  These  are  questions 
which  It  is  instructive  to  ask.  Every  one  may  answer 
them  for  himself,  and  In  the  answers  to  them  may, 
perhaps,  find  an  antidote  to  his  own  weakness  or 
vanity,  or  unreality,  or  self-consciousness. 

And  still  there  is  one  drawback  to  the  pleasure  and 
good  of  society  on  which  before  I  conclude  I  must 
briefly  touch — I  mean  that  mental  malady  which  is 
supposed  to  be  constitutional  with  most  of  us,  and 
with  which  we  are  sometimes  twitted  by  foreigners 
as  being  a  national  infirmity — the  evil  of  shyness  ;  so 


XII.]  SHYNESS  2T9 

small  and  yet  so  great  a  calamity,  because  it  occasions 
so  much  suffering-  and  leads  to  such  constant  mis- 
understanding. Who  can  describe  in  all  its  phases 
what  in  some  one  of  them  we  nearly  all  of  us  know 
too  well  ?  It  is  not  one  mental  disorder  but  many, 
and  varies  in  degree  and  kind  with  the  characters  of 
individuals.  It  is  afraid  where  no  fear  is;  it  is  humble, 
and  appears  proud  ;  it  is  sensitive,  and  takes  the  form 
of  coldness  and  reserve  ;  it  is  dying  to  speak,  and  can 
only  think  of  something  inappropriate  to  say.  In  its 
worst  form  it  is  like  a  numbness,  a  drying  up  of  the 
river  of  speech,  a  lethargy  or  paralysis  of  the  faculties. 
It  is  in  most  respects  the  opposite  of  what  it  appears 
to  be ;  all  sorts  of  false  imputations  are  apt  to  be  cast 
upon  him  who  is  the  victim  of  it,  and  the  acute  sense 
of  the  undeservedness  of  these  imputations  in  a  sensi- 
tive mind  greatly  aggravates  the  evil.  It  is  often 
caused  in  children  by  the  appearance  of  strangers  ; 
in  grown-up  persons  not  less  at  times  by  intimate 
friends  and  acquaintances.  For  the  minds  of  friends 
are  not  always  perfectly  attuned  ;  and  there  is  nothing 
more  difficult  than  to  talk  to  an  old  friend  who  for 
some  reason  or  other  is  incapable  of  responding  to 
us.  There  are  some  persons  who  are  never  at  home, 
except  when  alone  or  with  two  or  three  other  persons. 
There  are  others  who  have  only  the  full  use  or  en- 
joyment of  their  faculties  in  a  large  company.  So 
variously  are  we  constituted,  and  so  many  are  the 
forms  of  this  malady.    I  have  enumerated  only  a  few 


220  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

of  them.  We  laugh  at  It,  but  we  must  also  sympathize 
with  it,  if  we  are  not  insensible  to  one  of  the  real  evils 
of  hfe. 

I  have  enlarged  a  little  upon  this  curious  mental 
phenomenon,  because  to  be  aware  of  it  seems  to  be 
the  first  step  to  overcoming  the  evil.  Those  who 
are  affected  by  it  are  apt  to  think  it  is  peculiar  and 
individual ;  a  little  experience  would  soon  reveal  to 
them  that  almost  all  highly-strung  natures  are  at 
times  subject  to  the  same  feelings.  They  imagine 
that  they  are  the  objects  of  universal  remark;  they 
fear  that  some  awkwardness  or  mistake  of  which 
they  have  been  guilty  will  never  be  forgotten  ;  they 
feel,  and  perhaps  this  is  the  most  painful  part  of  their 
trial,  that  they  cannot  adequately  express  themselves 
even  to  those  whom  they  most  love.  Let  them  con- 
sider that  all  this  appears  very  different  to  others, 
and  of  much  less  importance.  The  elder  person  who 
silently  observes  them  will  remember  the  days  of  his 
own  youth  ;  awkwardnesses  or  mistakes,  one  or  many, 
will  not  destroy  a  man's  success  or  usefulness  in  life. 
Real  affection  will  make  itself  understood  though  it 
may  be  silent  and  reserved.  These  are  trifles  which 
we  are  always  tending  to  exaggerate.  But  the  really 
important  thing  is  that  we  should  not  pass  through 
life  in  a  temper  of  mistrust  and  isolation,  in  which  we 
never  attain  right  or  natural  relations  to  others,  mis- 
understanding, misunderstood,  overgrown  by  fancies 
which  overcloud  and  darken  the  mind.     Many  faults 


XII.]  SHYNESS  221 

which  are  not  to  be  considered  moral,  if  they  pass 
into  continuous  states,  have  moral  effects  on  the 
character  not  less  baneful  than  the  most  flagrant 
violation  of  morality. 

And  now  some  one  may  say,  '  But  in  all  this  the 
patient  must  minister  to  himself  The  subtllty  of 
the  human  mind  defies  analysis,  and  some  of  the 
hints  which  I  have  given,  while  applicable  to  one 
person,  may  be  wholly  inapplicable  to  others.  It  is 
a  task  which  each  one  must  take  into  his  own  hands. 
He  must  manage  himself  according  to  his  temper 
and  constitution.  His  success  In  life  depends  upon 
his  social  qualities  at  least  as  much  as  upon  his 
learning  or  acuteness  or  ability.  For  who  can  pro- 
mote or  assist  a  man  with  whom  at  every  turn  of 
life  it  Is  impossible  to  get  on  ?  The  happiness  of  life 
and  the  healthy  condition  of  the  mind  also  depends 
upon  them  ;  for  how  can  we  derive  any  pleasure  from 
the  society  of  others,  or  how  can  w^e  learn  anything 
from  them,  if  we  do  not  know  how  to  approach 
them  ? 

And  still  another  person  may  make  the  reflection, 
'  That  the  tendency  to  think  about  ourselves  may 
encourage  that  very  evil  for  which  we  are  seeking 
to  find  a  remedy.'  How  can  self-consciousness  be 
cured  by  a  still  more  perplexing  consciousness  of 
itself?  And  yet  without  thought  no  evil  or  defect 
was  ever  removed,  no  fault  cured.  Neither  in  re- 
ligion  nor   in   life   Is   It   always  easy  to   distinguish 


222  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xii. 

between  the  right  sort  of  self-examination  and  the 
wrong-,  or  to  draw  the  line  between  the  want  of 
self-examination  which  leaves  us  in  ignorance  of  our- 
selves and  the  excess  of  it  which  takes  away  the 
power  to  act.  We  want  to  make  people  strong,  and 
we  leave  them  weak  ;  to  inspire  them  with  indepen- 
dence, and  we  only  render  them  more  helpless  and 
dependent.  Acknowledging  that  this  is  a  difficulty 
against  which  we  have  to  guard,  I  will  once  more 
bring  the  subject  before  you  in  a  general  form. 

The  Apostle  St.  Paul,  after  attempting  to  make 
rules  and  to  draw  distinctions  about  meats  and  drinks, 
finally  sums  up  the  conclusion  in  the  following  words : 
'  Whether  we  eat  or  drink,  let  us  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God.'  And  so,  leaving  the  niceties  of  self-observa- 
tion, we  too  may  say,  '  Whatever  we  utter,  whether 
in  jest  or  earnest,  let  us  speak  only  to  the  glory  of 
God ;  let  our  tongue  still  be  employed  in  His  service.' 
We  cannot  always  have  the  thought  of  God  present  to 
us,  but  we  may  feel  in  our  intercourse  with  others  some 
restraining  influence,  some  inspiring  power,  coming 
we  know  not  whence.  When  we  repress  the  egotisti- 
cal remark,  the  ill-natured  story,  the  weak  comparison 
of  ourselves  with  others,  the  impure  imagination, 
although  we  do  not  expressly  refer  our  words  to 
Him,  we  may  be  truly  said  to  speak  unto  the  Lord 
and  not  to  man.  When  we  regard  truth  more  than 
the  entertainment  of  the  company,  when  we  seek  to 
do  justice  to  others  and  feel  kindly  towards  them. 


XII.]    CONVERSATION  AS  A  DIVINE  SERVICE   223 

then,  although  in  a  Hmited  and  imperfect  manner, 
we  reflect  His  attributes.  When  there  is  peace  and 
good-will  in  a  society,  there  He  is  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;  when  there  is  joy  on  earth,  then  in  a  figure 
there  is  joy  too  in  heaven. 

And  sometimes  on  the  more  serious  occasions  of 
life  we  may  refer  what  we  are  saying  to  Him  and 
ask  for  His  blessing.  When  we  feel  that  we  need 
a  higher  strength  than  our  own  ;  when  we  want  to 
be  raised  above  the  opinions  of  men  ;  when  we  are 
trying  to  act  fairly  in  some  perplexed  and  difficult 
matter,  then,  in  the  crowd  and  amid  the  busy  hum 
of  men,  the  silent  prayer  may  still  ascend  to  Him 
that  we  may  see  things  as  they  truly  are,  and  that 
no  indolence  or  cowardice  or  prejudice  may  prevent 
us  from  giving  a  just  judgment  or  forming  a  right 
opinion.  If  for  a  moment  we  are  placed  on  some 
theatre  of  display,  it  may  calm  our  thoughts  and  give 
us  courage  to  remember  that  we  are  still  in  His 
presence,  '  Who  makes  the  weak  things  of  this  world 
to  prevail  over  the  mighty,  and  the  things  which 
are  not  to  prevail  over  those  which  are.'  We  do 
not,  like  a  famous  ancient  people,  place  a  skeleton 
at  the  feast:  such  morbid  fancies  do  not  dehght  us. 
But  still,  whether  we  are  alone  or  in  company,  we 
should  have  a  sense  of  the  realities  of  life  ;  and  in 
conversation  they  should  have  a  restraining  influence. 
For  not  pleasure  or  society  or  worldly  success  is  the 
main  purpose  of  our  being  here,  but  the  fulfilment 


224  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

of  the  will  of  God.  And  over  all  and  above  all, 
beyond  what  we  call  circumstances  and  the  realities 
of  life,  which  experience  reveals  to  us,  is  He  Himself 
from  whom  we  came  and  to  whom  we  return.  This  is 
the  thought  which  lightens  our  minds  and  eyes,  which 
dispels  our  passing  fancies,  which  by  raising  us  above 
the  world  shows  us  how  to  do  our  duty  in  it,  which 
in  all  companies  and  in  all  dealings  with  our  fellow- 
men  imparts  to  our  words  seriousness  and  consistency 
and  truth. 


XIII 

^  WHETHER    THEREFORE    YE  EA  T,    OR  DRINK,    OR 

WHATSOEVER    YE   DO,    DO   ALL    TO    THE   GLORY   OF 

GOD.  ^ 

I  Cor.  X.  31. 

These  words  are  the  summing  up  of  two  con- 
troversies ;  one  which  prevailed  in  the  primitive 
Church,  respecting  meats  offered  to  idols,  and  which 
extended  to  the  general  relations  of  the  Jew  or 
Christian  to  the  Gentile  world  ;  and  the  other  is 
a  controversy,  which  the  Apostle  holds  with  him- 
self, concerning  the  different  modes  of  treating  the 
point  in  dispute,  whether,  that  is  to  say,  it  should 
be  decided,  or  left  an  open  question.  The  first  has 
long  since  passed  away;  the  second  is  always  reap- 
pearing, and  has  to  be  determined  anew  in  every 
generation.  The  first  controversy  arises  out  of  the 
conflict  of  religions  or  races,  which  occurs  at  certain 
times  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  the  second  (con- 
cerning the  degree  of  liberty  to  be  allowed)  is 
inseparable  from  the  very  nature  of  human  society, 
in  which  individuals  have  distinct  rights,  and  yet 
are  parts  of  a  whole  and  members  of  one  another. 

The  Apostle  gives  a  lively  picture  of  one  of  those 

1  Preached  at  Balliol,  April  19,  1885. 
Q 


226  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

conflicts,  which  have  so  often  happened  in  a  transi- 
tion from  the  old  to  the  new.  The  first  Christians 
lived  in  Greek  or  Roman  or  Oriental  cities ;  they 
dwelt  among  the  Gentiles,  but  they  inherited  from 
their  Jewish  origin  a  horror  of  idolatry.  What  rule 
should  they  follow  respecting  the  eating  of  meats 
offered  in  sacrifice  ?  They  went  to  the  market-place 
in  which  food  was  sold,  but  here  no  distinction  was 
drawn  between  the  idolatrous  meats  and  those  which, 
according  to  the  ideas  of  some  of  them,  would  have 
been  regarded  as  unpolluted.  The  poor  man  or  his 
wife  would  come  to  buy,  seeking  for  the  pieces  of 
meat  which  were  best  or  cheapest,  or  most  suited 
to  their  wants,  when  suddenly  an  officious  neighbour 
said :  '  Do  not  eat  that ;  it  is  some  of  the  meat  which 
was  sold  after  the  festival.'  The  person  thus  addressed 
bought  or  refrained  from  buying ;  if  he  bought,  asking 
no  questions,  and  even  after  the  warning,  still  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Apostle  he  had  not  done  wrong. 
And  yet  so  prone  are  mankind  to  a  fanciful  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  that  he  might  very  likely  become 
unhappy  in  his  mind,  and  imagine  that  he  was 
defiled.  His  neighbours  would  be  terribly  scandal- 
ized, and  would  denounce  him  to  his  co-religionists. 
And  in  the  community  some  would  side  with  him 
and  some  against  him :  thus  would  be  parties  formed ; 
or  rather  they  already  existed  ;  and  a  violent  con- 
troversy would  be  stirred,  such  as  often  rages  when 
the  points  in  dispute  are  most  trifling.     Yet  though 


XIII.]   QUESTION  OF  MEATS  AT  CORINTH      227 

the  occasion  might  be  trifling,  there  was  a  principle 
behind  which  was  not  trifling.  Should  the  Christian 
eat  and  drink  with  the  unbeliever?  Should  he  go 
to  law  before  him  ?  Should  he  be  present  at  Gentile 
games  and  festivals  ?  Should  he  intermarry  with  his 
family  ?  Should  he  associate  with  him  at  all  ?  Or 
was  a  world  to  be  formed  within  a  world,  or  one 
half  of  the  world  to  be  wholly  cut  off  from  the 
other  ? 

And  here  begins  the  controversy  of  St.  Paul  with 
himself  He  seems  to  be  distracted  between  two 
opposite  ideas  or  impulses.  First,  an  idol  is  nothing 
in  the  world — a  piece  of  wood  or  stone,  a  thing  to 
be  mocked  at  and  had  in  derision.  ('  The  workman 
maketh  a  graven  image.')  And  yet,  considering  the 
spirit  in  which  some  of  the  Gentile  feasts  were 
celebrated,  the  idol  must  be  regarded  also  as  a  power 
of  evil :  '  Know  ye  not  that  what  the  Gentiles  sacri- 
fice, they  sacrifice  unto  devils  and  not  to  God  ?  Ye 
cannot  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of 
devils ;  ye  cannot  be  partakers  of  the  table  of  the 
Lord,  and  of  the  table  of  devils.'  So  again  we  are 
assured  that  'all  things  are  lawful,  but  all  things 
are  not  expedient,'  and  that  '  every  creature  of  God 
is  good.'  But  shall  the  weak  brother  perish  because 
of  thy  enlightenment  ?  Then  follows  the  noble  declara- 
tion :  '  Wherefore  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend, 
I  will  eat  no  more  meat  while  the  world  standeth,  lest 
I  make  my  brother  to  offend.'     And  still  the  doubt 

Q2 


228  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

pursues  us ;  another  voice  is  heard,  which  seems  to 
come  from  another  conscience:  'Why  is  my  liberty 
to  be  judged  of  another  man  ? '  Why  am  I  evil 
spoken  of  when  I  give  thanks  for  what  I  am  eating  ? 
Too  strict  a  religion  may  be  as  harmful  as  too  lax 
a  one.  For  scruples  may  grow  upon  scruples  until 
the  unimportant  takes  the  place  of  the  important, 
and  the  whole  Gospel  of  Christ,  the  Gospel  of  charity, 
of  freedom,  of  truth,  becomes  absorbed  in  some 
question  of  vestments,  or  of  position,  or  of  the 
meaning  of  unintelligible  words.  We  often  talk  of 
being  on  the  safe  side ;  but  there  is  a  danger  on 
both  sides.  We  say  it  is  better  to  believe  too  much 
than  too  little ;  but  the  only  safety  is  in  the  truth. 
And  so  the  Apostle,  having  argued  the  question 
from  different  points  of  view,  returns  to  a  rule  which 
he  has  laid  down  in  another  Epistle :  '  Him  that  is 
weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  the  decision 
of  his  doubts'  (Romans  xiv.  i.  That  is  probably 
the  correct  translation  of  the  last  clause  which  is 
rendered  in  the  English  version,  '  but  not  to  doubtful 
disputations.')  He  drops  the  dialogue  between  the 
weak  and  the  strong  brother,  which  is  partly  also 
the  conflict  in  his  own  mind,  and  finally  concludes : 
Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever 
ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.' 

The  conflict  of  feeling  which  agitates  the  Apostle's 
mind  is  a  conflict  of  principles  which  is  constantly 
going  on  in  our  own  day.     Good  men  may  be  fre- 


XIII.]   RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY      229 

quently  heard  saying — the  one  party,  that  we  must 
boldly  assert  the  truth,  leaving  the  consequences  to 
God  ;  the  other  party,  that  we  must  not  offend  the 
weaker  brethren.  I  will  give  one  or  two  examples, 
before  proceeding  to  consider  the  text  in  its  more 
general  meaning. 

There  is  a  good  deal  said  in  the  present  day  about 
the  disturbance  of  religious  opinions,  and  we  probably 
increase  the  alarm  by  our  manner  of  speaking  of  them. 
In  times  of  transition  such  changes  of  opinion  are 
very  natural,  and  men  exaggerate  the  dangers  of 
them  ;  it  was  so  at  the  Reformation  ;  it  probably  was 
so  in  the  first  and  second  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era.  The  doubt  which  arises  in  this  case,  is  whether 
we  shall  speak  of  novel  and  exciting  questions  to 
young  or  half-educated  persons,  to  pious  women,  to 
the  poor.     The  poet  has  sung : — 

'  Leave  thou  thy  sister  when  she  prays, 
Her  early  Heaven,  her  happy  views  ; 
Nor  thou  with  shadowed  hint  confuse 
A  life  that  leads  melodious  days.' 

There  is  wisdom  in  this,  but  it  is  a  one-sided  wisdom. 
The  same  poet  has  also  sung  another  strain  : — 

*  Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true ; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be.* 

Or  once  more  : — 

'  There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  creeds.' 


230  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

Can  we  find  any  reconciliation  of  these  varying 
utterances  of  the  same  mind  ?  I  think  that  we  may. 
For  we  may  argue  that  truth  kept  back  is  the  greatest 
source  of  doubt  and  suspicion  ;  that  faith  cannot  sur- 
vive without  enquiry,  and  that  the  doubt  which  is 
raised  may  be  the  step  upwards  to  a  higher  faith. 
And  so  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that  truth  is 
good,  and  to  be  received  thankfully  and  fearlessly 
by  all  who  are  capable  of  receiving  it.  But  on  the 
other  hand  it  is  not  always  to  be  imparted  in  its 
entirety  to  those  who  cannot  understand  it,  and  whose 
minds  would  be  puzzled  and  overwhelmed  by  it. 
What  use  would  there  be  in  discussing  with  a  cottager 
the  chronological  difficulties  of  the  Old  Testament 
history,  or  in  explaining  to  a  child  that  the  story  of 
Joseph  and  his  coat  of  many  colours,  which  conveys 
so  vivid  a  picture  to  his  mind,  partakes  of  the  nature 
of  an  Eastern  fiction  ?  In  human  life  there  is  an 
absolute  principle  of  truth,  and  happy  is  he  who 
seeks  it  out  and  fmds  it.  But  there  is  also  truth  and 
right,  relative  to  the  circumstances  of  men,  to  differ- 
ences of  age  and  sex  and  intelligence.  And  in  their 
best  form  these  two  views  will  be  found  to  coincide. 
While  in  the  Apostle's  phrase,  'strong  meat  is  reserved 
for  them  of  full  age,'  a  wise  man  knows  instinctively 
what  he  should  say  in  different  companies  and  to 
different  persons. 

Let  me  add  an  illustration  of  this  subject,  another 
example,  which  also  comes  home  to  us  in  the  present 


XIII.]  THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION  231 

day.  The  two  sides  of  the  question  which  I  am  about 
to  consider,  correspond  to  differences  of  character, 
which  render  it  difficult  for  one  party  to  do  justice 
to  the  other.  Most  of  us  rejoice  to  hear  of  the  tem- 
perance movement,  which  has  spread  far  and  wide 
over  the  country.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
sobriety  is  one  of  the  greatest  practical  lessons  which 
we  have  to  teach  in  our  own  day  to  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men.  And  it  may  seem  unfair  to  criti- 
cise what  is  in  the  main  good,  because  the  movement 
cannot  always  be  kept  within  the  limits  of  modera- 
tion. Yet  we  cannot  help  seeing  that  this,  like  any 
similar  movement,  tends  to  become  fanatical.  When, 
for  example,  the  rights  of  property  are  disregarded  ; 
when  the  doctrine  is  laid  down  that  moderation  in 
drinking  is  the  worst  form  of  drinking ;  when  total 
abstinence  is  held  to  be  the  saving  virtue  ;  when  the 
use  of  wine  in  the  Sacrament  is  discouraged,  or  the 
attempt  made  to  show  that  the  word  translated  '  wine  ' 
in  the  Scripture  means  an  unfermented  liquor  ;  then 
it  is  natural  that  many  good  people  (perhaps  the 
majority  of  sensible  persons)  should  begin  to  ask 
'  Why  is  my  liberty  judged  of  another  man's  con- 
science ?'  Or,  to  put  the  objection  in  every-day 
language,  '  Why  am  I  to  be  denied  a  glass  or  two  of 
wine  because  another  will  abuse  the  licence  ? '  And 
yet  the  forcible  words  of  St.  Paul  w411  also  be  heard 
sounding  in  our  ears  :  '  If  wine  make  my  brother 
so  offend,  I  will  drink  no  more  wine  w^hile  the  world 


232  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend.'  And 
still  we  have  not  got  rid  of  the  difficulty.  For  objec- 
tions meet  us  from  the  opposite  side  ;  we  ask  ourselves : 
Is  it  a  good  thing  to  place  restrictions  on  human 
liberty,  which  are  moreover  sure  to  be  evaded  ?  Is 
it  well  that  the  attention  of  men  should  be  directed  to 
one  question  only  which  stops  the  way,  while  the 
rest  of  politics  is  neglected  }  Or  that  the  lives  and 
characters  of  men  should  be  estimated  by  their  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  temperance  ?  A  distinguished  prelate  once 
said, '  Better  England  free  than  sober.'  And,  though  we 
cannot  altogether  subscribe  to  these  words,  for  English- 
men will  never  be  free,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term, 
until  they  are  sober,  we  feel  also  that  they  express  a  very 
natural  reaction  against  the  extreme  views  of  others. 

I  have  sketched  the  two  sides  of  the  argument,  but 
do  not  ask  you  to  decide  in  favour  of  either.  May 
I  venture  to  say  to  the  members  of  the  Temperance 
Society :  Do  not  forget  moderation  in  the  use  of 
words,  or  catch  the  fever  of  temperance,  or  become 
intoxicated  with  water.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
I  may  ask  of  him  who  claims  his  Christian  liberty, 
to  remember  that  a  great  good  can  rarely  be  effected 
without  some  attending  evil.  We  must  set  the  one 
against  the  other.  If  we  wait  until  reforms  are  under- 
taken only  by  men  of  sense  and  judgment,  and  are 
conducted  only  in  ways  which  are  approved  by 
a  refined  taste,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  world  will 
remain  unreformed  to  the  end  of  time. 


XIII.]  DANGERS  FROM  EATING,   ETC.  233 

Leaving  now  the  controversial  aspects  of  the 
Apostle's  words,  and  their  special  relation  to  the 
primitive  Church,  I  propose  to  consider  them  in  their 
practical  bearing  on  our  daily  life.  *  Whether  ye  eat 
or  drink,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  The  first  of 
these  temptations  is  rarely  spoken  of;  the  second, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  is  a  matter  of  great  interest, 
which  is  constantly  discussed  at  public  meetings,  and 
argued  about  in  conversation. 

Of  the  first  little  is  said,  because  the  effects  of  it  are 
not  immediately  visible  as  in  the  case  of  drinking. 
It  does  not  reach  the  mind  or  find  a  way  to  the  head 
in  the  same  palpable  manner.  No  poet  has  ever  sung 
the  praises  of  eating,  except  perhaps  Homer,  who  re- 
wards his  heroes  with  '  perpetual  chines.'  No  warning 
is  uttered  from  the  pulpit  against  it,  except  for  the 
sake  of  inculcating  what  some  deem  to  be  a  duty,  the 
religious  practice  of  fasting.  Yet  the  subject  is  not  one 
which  we  can  afford  to  neglect.  Satan  lies  in  wait 
for  many  a  man  in  the  temptation  of  eating  as  well 
as  of  drinking.  When  we  begin  to  grow  old,  then 
the  remembrance  of  the  slight  excesses,  hardly  faults, 
of  our  youth  returns  upon  us.  There  are  many  foolish 
things  which  we  are  apt  to  do  at  school  or  at  the 
University,  for  which  a  time  of  reckoning  comes  in 
middle  life  or  in  declining  years.  There  are  weak- 
nesses of  constitution,  scarcely  perceptible  at  first, 
which  grow  and  become  formidable  at  forty-five  or 
fifty,  and  which  might  have  been  conquered  or  sup- 


234  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

pressed,  if  we  had  imposed  upon  ourselves  the  neces- 
sary self-restraint.  Let  me  add  another  consideration. 
We  are  often  inclined  to  eat  most  freely  when  we 
ought  to  practise  the  greatest  self-control,  that  is  to 
say,  when  we  are  exhausted  by  study  or  exercise. 
Yet  is  it  not  obvious  that  we  are  then  straining  our 
bodily  powers,  when  they  are  least  capable  of  under- 
going the  strain  which  is  put  upon  them  ?  Such 
reflections  will  by  some  be  thought  unsuited  to  the 
pulpit.  I  remember  an  excellent  clergyman  who 
denounced  drunkenness  in  his  parish.  His  parish- 
ioners were  grievously  offended  at  being  reminded 
of  their  evil  ways  ;  they  said,  '  He  should  keep  to 
the  doctrine,  that  could  do  no  harm.'  And  therefore, 
lest  any  one  should  think  that  such  observations  are 
inappropriate  to  this  place,  I  will  leave  them  to  the 
physician,  and  merely  add  in  the  words  of  the  Apostle, 
'  He  that  struggles  for  mastery  is  temperate  in  all 
things,'  and  that  the  body  must  be  educated  as  well 
as  the  mind,  and  that  the  one  is  the  life-long  com- 
panion of  the  other. 

At  the  dinners  of  the  rich,  at  the  comfortable  meal 
to  which  we  sit  down,  the  silent  thought  of  the  poor 
may  well  occur  to  some  of  us.  There  was  once 
a  banquet  to  which  the  halt  and  the  maimed  and 
the  blind  were  invited,  when  the  rich  stayed  away. 
To  us  the  pleasures  of  eating,  to  use  an  ancient 
expression,  have  no  antecedent  pains  ;  our  meals 
succeed  one   another  almost  with   the  regularity  of 


XIII.]  MEALS   OF  RICH  AND  POOR  235 

a  law  of  nature  ;  few  persons  in  the  upper  or  middle 
class  of  life,  except  from  an  accident,  have  ever 
known  what  it  is  to  suffer  from  hunger.  But  the 
first  thought  of  the  poor  homeless  child  when  it 
wakes  up  in  the  morning  is,  where  a  breakfast  will 
be  found  for  it:  he  or  she  goes  forth  to  beg  or  to 
work  ;  and  yet  the  life  and  gaiety  of  childhood  is  not 
to  be  repressed  by  the  sadness  of  such  an  existence. 
There  is  many  a  mother  too  starving  herself  that  her 
children  may  not  be  pinched  with  hunger.  To  the 
very  poor  the  coarse  viands  of  the  cook-shop  from 
which  we  turn  aside  rather  with  disgust,  are  delicacies 
which  they  cannot  afford  to  purchase.  These  are 
reflections  which  we  should  not  put  away  from  our- 
selves when  we  thank  the  bounty  of  Jehovah  for  the 
good  things  which  are  spread  before  us. 

'  Some  can  eat  and  have  not  meat, 
Some  have  meat  and  cannot  eat, 
But  we  have  meat  and  we  can  eat, 
Therefore  the  Lord  be  thanked.' 

Yet  there  is  no  reason  why  this  natural  thought  of 
others  should  diminish  cheerfulness.  Not  those  who 
are  themselves  unhappy,  but  those  who  are  happy, 
have  the  greatest  power  of  cheering  the  lot  of  others. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  miseries  of  mankind,  we  too 
may  kill  the  fatted  calf  and  make  merr}^  at  social 
gatherings,  with  our  friends  at  Christmas,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  birthday,  or  of  a  wedding.  But  at 
other  times  it  is  well  that  our  manner  of  life  should 


236  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

be  as  simple  as  possible.  The  Spartans,  as  we  are 
told  by  Aristotle  (though  he  says  nothing  of  the 
famous  black  broth),  were  in  the  habit  of  partaking 
of  the  same  food  and  of  wearing  the  same  dress. 
That  is  the  true  style  of  a  gentleman,  to  be  rather 
indifferent  to  outward  things.  '  Take  no  thought 
what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye  shall  drink,  or  where- 
withal shall  ye  be  clothed.  For  is  not  the  soul  more 
than  meat  and  the  body  than  raiment } '  Neither 
must  we  neglect  the  constant  prescription  of  phy- 
sicians to  eat  no  more  than  will  satisfy  hunger.  We 
should  not  educate  the  palate  to  niceties  and  dainties. 
May  we  not  conclude,  that  any  indulgence  in  food 
which  tends  to  lower  the  spirit  or  clog  the  thoughts, 
which  makes  us  conscious  of  our  material  frame,  any 
excess  which  places  the  body  above  the  mind,  or 
impedes  the  intelligent  exercise  of  the  will,  even  for 
an  hour  or  two,  is  in  a  measure  lowering  to  the 
dignity  of  a  rational  being  ? 

The  other  part  of  the  subject  is  equally  worthy 
of  serious  attention,  whether  we  regard  others  or 
ourselves.  Older  persons  will  sometimes  describe  to 
us,  not  without  a  certain  relish,  the  extent  to  which 
drinking  was  carried  in  their  own  generation,  and 
in  the  times  that  were  before  them.  It  was  a  fashion 
which  prevailed  in  society  during  the  last  century, 
and  in  the  first  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  this.  At 
what  precise  time  and  by  what  means  this  fashion 
was   changed,  has  been   often   a   matter  of  dispute. 


XIII.]  DRUNKENNESS  IN  ENGLAND  237 

A  venerable  friend  of  mine,  who  lived  much  in  the 
world,  used  to  tell  me  that  the  change  did  not  begin 
until  after  the  end  of  the  French  war,  and  that  about 
the  year  1830  it  was  nearly  completed.  And  many 
other  evil  practices  were  changed  with  it,  partly 
I  believe  owing  to  the  revival  of  religion  which  took 
place  during  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century  both  among  Dissenters  and 
Churchmen.  During  the  last  twenty  years  a  further 
movement  has  been  made  in  the  same  direction, 
which  almost  entirely  removes  from  the  upper  and 
middle  classes  the  disgrace  of  drunkenness,  and  also 
indicates  a  great  improvement  in  the  habits  of  the 
labourer  and  artisan.  In  this  conservative  place, 
where  the  habit  of  drinking  lingered  somewhat  later 
than  elsewhere,  the  revolution  has  been  most  remark- 
able. We  cannot  be  too  grateful  for  the  better  feeling 
which  prevails  among  the  younger  members  of  the 
University  in  this  particular.  There  is  no  one  pro- 
bably here  present  who  would  not  regard  as  a  serious 
disgrace  that  which  sixty  years  ago  would  have  been 
deemed  a  trifling  and  venial  fault.  They  hardly  know 
how  small  a  part  of  the  delights  of  life  they  renounce, 
how  many  and  great  evils  they  escape.  Speaking  of 
Oxford,  I  grieve  to  think  that  I  can  say  this  with 
rather  less  confidence  during  the  last  three  or  four 
years  than  formerly. 

Yet  we  cannot  say  that  the  temptation  of  drinking 
has  altogether  passed  away  among  us.     '  Let  him  that 


238  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall,' — not  per- 
haps into  gross  vice,  but  he  may  almost  unconsciously 
allow  habits  to  gain  upon  him,  which  are  not  con- 
ducive either  to  health  or  morality.  He  may  daily 
take  a  little  more  than  is  really  good  for  him.  There 
are  many  associations  besides  the  pleasures  of  sense 
by  which  we  are  attracted  to  drinking.  The  sparkling 
glass  has  been  the  theme  of  song  in  all  ages.  '  Wine 
that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man'  is  an  ancient 
saying,  which  comes  readily  to  the  lips.  Then  there 
is  the  spirit  of  kindness  and  good-fellowship.  The 
hospitable  friend  desires  to  give  us  of  his  best ;  he 
kindly  urges  upon  us  with  modest  words  this  or  that 
vintage.  '  Try  this,'  '  take  a  little  more  of  that,'  until 
we  feel  almost  compelled  to  yield  to  his  solicitations. 
It  is  not  the  good  things  which  he  offers,  but  the 
charm  of  our  host's  courtesy  and  liberality,  that  draws 
us  on.  How  can  he  say  to  his  guests,  '  Here  are 
excellent  and  costly  wines,  but  let  me  implore  you  not 
to  drink  them  ? '  Here  '  the  patient  must  minister  to 
himself ;  and  what  rule  shall  he  observe  ?  It  is  perhaps 
not  possible  to  give  an  answer  which  is  suitable  to  all 
persons.  In  one  point  we  shall  probably  agree,  that 
he  should  not  obtrude  his  own  manner  of  life  upon 
others.  Let  him  abstain  altogether  if  he  thinks  better, 
but  let  no  word  or  sign  from  him  imply  that  he  re- 
gards himself  as  a  superior  person  on  account  of  his 
abstinence.  The  difficulty  of  giving  a  more  precise 
answer  to  the  question  arises  partly  from  the  varieties 


XIII.]  ALLUREMENTS   OF  DRINKING  239 

of  temperament  or  constitution  in  different  individuals. 
Many  a  man  has  been  ruined  because  be  failed  to 
observe  that  he  could  not  drink  with  impunity  what 
would  have  been  comparatively  harmless  to  another. 
A  few  are  the  victims  of  an  hereditary  failing.  Yet 
it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  such 
hereditary  tendencies  are  incapable  of  being  overcome 
or  effaced.  We  hear  a  great  deal  of  the  doctrine  of 
heredity  now-a-days,  and  there  is  value  in  such  obser- 
vations, if  they  teach  us  the  direction  in  which  the 
greatest  resistance  has  to  be  made.  We  do  not  wish 
to  ignore  the  inherited  evil  tendencies  of  men,  but 
effectually  to  combat  them,  and  therefore  we  must 
arouse  in  our  minds  the  consciousness  of  freedom  ; 
not  that  blind  freedom  which  supposes  that  in  a 
moment  of  time  any  change  may  be  made  in  our 
mental  and  moral  constitution  (which  is  as  absurd  as 
to  suppose  that  by  a  sudden  effort  a  man  can  fly  in 
the  air  or  by  the  lifting  up  of  his  arm  stop  some 
mechanical  power),  but  that  intelligent  freedom  which 
knows  how  great  an  effect  may  be  produced  by  the 
continuous  exertion  of  a  very  small  force  during 
many  years,  whether  on  the  mind  or  the  body.  About 
the  works  of  the  machine  we  know  far  more  than 
formerly,  but  this  knowledge  will  be  worse  than  useless 
if  it  paralyses  the  will. 

The  life  of  self-control  is  not  grievous  but  joyous 
when  we  become  accustomed  to  it.  It  clears  the 
mind;   it  strengthens  the  judgment;    it   elevates   the 


240  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

character.  It  is  the  true  freedom  which  places  us 
above  both  our  bodies  and  our  minds,  and  so  gives 
us  the  true  use  of  them.  In  our  own  day  the  com- 
plaint is  often  made  that  there  is  less  individual  force 
than  formerly;  and  this  defect  is  often  attributed  to 
the  want  of  opportunities  in  which  heroism  can  be 
shown.  But  may  there  not  be  a  silent  heroism  in 
refusing  the  glass  of  wine  which  is  proffered  to  us  ? 
When  we  resist  ourselves  and  public  opinion,  then 
only  we  become  conscious  that  we  are  men.  Not  by 
dreams  of  virtue,  which  float  pleasantly  enough  about 
our  bed  and  about  our  path,  nor  yet  by  a  sleepy 
acquiescence  in  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
respectable  part  of  the  community,  but  by  noble 
actions,  in  w^hich  we  fight  against  our  own  inherited 
instincts  or  acquired  habits,  can  we  hope  to  attain  the 
great  victory  of  life. 

Shall  I  venture  to  offer  one  more  suggestion  which 
is  suited  to  the  case  of  many  of  us  ?  It  is  this :  that 
we  should  not  make  fermented  liquors  a  part  of  our 
daily  food,  but  reserve  them  for  feast  days  and  holi- 
days, when  we  rejoice  together  with  our  friends  and 
neighbours.  At  any  rate  we  should  do  well  to  abstain 
from  them  at  times,  that  we  may  be  assured  of  our  not 
having  become  their  slaves.  For  wine  mingles  with 
the  mind  and  heats  the  blood  ;  it  seems  to  take  us  out 
of  our  natural  state,  and  to  deaden  rather  than  quicken 
the  sense  of  right.  The  impulse  given  to  the  brain 
is  capricious  and  unsteady ;  there  is  no  real  light  or 


XIII.]  ADVICE  ABOUT  DRINKING  241 

force  in  it.  Whatever  poets  may  have  sung-,  it  was 
when  they  were  sober,  not  when  they  were  drunk, 
that  their  greatest  creations  were  imagined  by  them. 
But  though  I  offer  these  suggestions,  I  would  much 
rather  that  every  man  should  be  his  own  teacher,  and 
judge  for  himself  in  so  nice  a  matter.  '  Let  every 
man  do  as  he  is  persuaded  in  his  heart.'  There  is 
his  duty  to  himself,  and  his  duty  to  his  neighbour. 
The  young-er  members  of  a  society  are  greatly  sup- 
ported and  strengthened  by  the  example  of  their 
elders ;  the  poor  are  greatly  influenced  by  the  rich. 
I  have  heard  a  young  man  say  that,  '  He  never 
drank  wine  or  spirits,  when  he  went  out  shooting, 
because  it  was  a  bad  example  to  the  gamekeepers 
and  gillies.'  This  is  a  homely  instance,  taken  from 
common  life,  of  a  Christian  action.  I  do  not  press 
any  one  to  imitate  it.  Let  every  man  do  as  he  is 
disposed  in  his  heart;  he  that  drinketh  wine  doeth 
well ;  and  yet  those  who  are  accustomed  to  the  indul- 
gence may  be  willing  to  admit,  '  He  that  drinketh 
not  doeth  better.' 

Like  the  Apostle,  we  have  been  driven  about  by 
currents  of  opposite  feeling  in  seeking  to  examine 
a  subject  which  touches  human  life  very  nearly.  And 
like  the  Apostle  we  fall  back  on  a  general  principle : 
'  Wherefore  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatever  we 
do,  let  us  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  It  is  surprising 
how  difficult  the  duties  of  men  sometimes  become, 
when  opposite  rules  are  set  against  one  another,  or 

R 


242  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiii. 

when  they  have  to  be  reconciled  with  differences  of 
character.  It  Is  surprising  how  simple  they  grow 
when  they  are  considered  by  the  light  of  great  prin- 
ciples ;  when,  dismissing  tradition  and  custom  and 
the  opinions  of  men,  we  are  able  simply  to  ask: 
'  What  is  the  will  of  God  ? '  If  you  can  say  that 
there  is  no  will  of  God  about  this  trifling  ceremony, 
about  this  small  dispute  (for  God  does  not  interfere 
in  such  matters,  but  only  in  the  greater  things  of 
righteousness  and  temperance  and  truth),  the  question 
is  already  answered :  'A  highway  shall  there  be,  and 
a  way ;  it  shall  be  called  The  way  of  holiness  ;  the 
unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it ;  the  wayfaring  man 
shall  not  err  in  it.'  The  Scripture  is  constantly 
referring  us  back  to  these  simple  and  higher  grounds 
of  life  in  such  expressions  as :  '  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath';  'If 
thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of 
light ' ;  '  Whosoever  has  the  will  to  do  the  works, 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God.' 

So  then  the  resolution  of  many  casuistical  doubts, 
the  whole  of  many  sermons,  at  last  comes  back  to 
this :  '  Do  all  for  the  glory  of  God,'  that  is,  in  a 
higher  manner,  In  a  nobler  spirit.  Instead  of  the 
busy,  ever- recurring,  image  of  self,  which  is  always 
like  '  a  forward  child '  chattering  within  us,  let  the 
thought  of  God  be  present  with  us,  like  the  sea, 
silent  and  unfathomable,  like  the  light  and  air,  hving 
and  infinite,  yet  also  communicated  by  Him  to  us. 


XIII.]     EAT  AND  DRINK  AS  IN  GOD'S  SIGHT    243 

*  Let  us  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God  ' — '  not  with  eye- 
service  as  men-pleasers,  but,  as  the  serv^ants  of  God, 
from  the  heart.'  When  we  bring  ourselves  into  that 
Presence,  the  temptations  of  sense  flee  away  ;  when 
we  lay  our  doubts  and  difficulties  before  Him,  in  the 
brightness  of  that  light  they  are  dispersed.  It  is  by 
communion  with  Him,  who  is  the  essence  of  Right- 
eousness and  Truth  and  Love,  that  we  are  enabled 
to  rise  above  ourselves.  This  is  what  the  Scripture 
calls  '  living  to  His  glor}^-.'  The  vision  of  God  in  His 
glory  (not  merely  as  in  a  picture,  surrounded  by 
angels,  but  in  the  higher  form  of  mind  or  thought) 
is  sometimes  seen  at  a  distance  from  the  heights  of 
philosophy,  and  sometime  has  a  dwelling-place  in  the 
humble  soul.  If  we  attempted  to  describe  it,  we 
should  fall  into  unreality,  for  we  see  '  through  a  glass ' 
only.  Let  us  think  sometimes  of  the  best  moments 
of  our  lives,  when  we  have  been  most  resigned  to 
the  will  of  God,  when  we  have  risen  most  above 
the  opinions  of  men,  when  we  have  been  most  free 
from  the  temptations  of  sense,  when  we  have  desired 
to  look  into  the  truth,  and  seen  it  so  far  as  our  earthly 
state  allowed.  In  this  way  we  may  form  an  idea  of 
what  the  Apostle  meant  by  '  living  to  His  glory ' ; — of 
what  Christ  meant  when  He  said,  'The  kingdom  of 
God  is  within  you.' 


R  2 


XIV 

»  /  RETURNED,  AND  SAW  UNDER  THE  SUN,  THAT 
THE  RACE  IS  NOT  TO  THE  SWIFT,  NOR  THE  BATTLE 
TO  THE  STRONG.  ^ 

ECCLES.   IX,    II. 

SO  THE  LAST  SHALL  BE  FIRST  AND  THE  FIRST 
LAST;    FOR  MANY  BE  CALLED,  BUT  FEW  CHOSEN 

Matt.  xx.  i6. 

It  has  been  common  to  apply  the  words  of  Scripture 
in  senses  which  were  not  present  to  the  minds  of  those 
who  wrote  or  uttered  them.  Besides  the  original 
meaning,  other  meanings  or  uses  of  them  have  sprung 
up,  which  have  been  hardly  less  important.  They 
have  serv^ed  not  only  as  rules  of  life  but  as  vehicles 
or  expressions  of  the  higher  thoughts  of  mankind. 
They  have  stamped  the  literature  of  Christendom, 
which  may  be  said  to  have  been  created  out  of  them. 
The  new  meaning  which  was  brought  to  them  and 
was  shown  through  them,  the  truth  in  the  heart  of 
men  which  was  infused  into  them,  has  inspired  the 
nations  of  Europe  and  been  the  light  of  other  ages. 
Such  an  enlargement  of  ancient  and  sacred  words 
appears  to  be  natural  and  necessary.  The  world  would 
soon  have  outgrown  the  religious  books  of  its  child - 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  October  12,  1879. 


EXPANSION  OF  MEANING   OF  TEXTS     245 

hood  if  there  were  no  power  of  adapting  them  to  new 
wants  and  circumstances.  And  such  a  use  of  them 
has  the  authority  of  Scripture.  For  is  not  the  Old 
Testament,  according  to  the  well-known  saying  of 
Augustine,  revealed  in  the  New,  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment concealed  in  the  Old  ?  And  the  sacred  books 
of  all  nations,  in  so  far  as  they  retain  any  life  or 
power,  have  experienced  a  similar  adaptation.  They 
mean,  or  are  made  to  mean,  more  than  the  authors  of 
them  ever  knew,  or  could  have  conceived.  There  is 
a  new  truth  which  is  also  old,  another  commandment 
which  was  given  from  the  beginning.  This  is  the 
progress  of  religious  thought  which  is  ever  widening 
as  years  go  on ;  which  clothes  itself  in  many  solemn 
and  expressive  formulas,  in  many  poetical  figures,  in 
many  types  and  symbols  taken  from  an  older  dispen- 
sation. It  transmutes  what  is  local  and  national  into 
what  is  spiritual  and  universal.  It  is  not  merely  the 
words  of  the  Bible  as  they  may  be  interpreted  by 
the  philological  critic,  but  the  words  of  the  Bible  as 
they  have  been  enriched  by  the  minds  of  men  in  all 
ages,  as  they  have  reflected  their  highest  thoughts 
and  feelings,  as  they  have  been  lighted  up  by  the 
lessons  of  human  history,  as  they  have  been  inter- 
preted by  experience,  which  have  been  the  living 
word  of  God,  bringing  forth  fruit  in  the  world. 

There  seems  to  be  no  objection  to  that  manner  of 
adapting  Scripture  which  is  so  widely  prevalent  in 
religious  writings,  if  we  distinguish,  as  with  our  present 


246  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

knowledge  we  ought  to  do,  between  the  adaptation 
and  the  original  meaning.  We  are  not  making  Scrip- 
ture signify  what  we  please,  we  are  only  endeavouring 
to  read  it  by  the  light  of  our  own  highest  thoughts, 
or  seeking  to  find  in  it  their  best  and  truest  expression. 
And  therefore  I  shall  make  no  apology  for  employing 
either  of  the  two  texts  which  are  placed  at  the  head 
of  this  sermon  in  a  somewhat  different  sense  from  that 
which  they  bear  in  their  original  connexion. 

The  first  is  taken  from  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes, 
and  is  one  of  the  aspects  of  human  life  which  passed 
before  the  eyes  of  the  Preacher.  '  Vanity  of  vanities, 
saith  the  Preacher :  all  is  vanity.'  This  is  the  mind 
or  thought  within  him  which  he  brings  to  the  con- 
templation of  the  world.  In  this  spirit  he  makes 
the  reflection  of  the  text :  '  The  race  is  not  to  the 
swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong.'  He  does  not 
mean  to  say  that  the  weak  may  sometimes  succeed 
w^hen  the  strong  fail,  or  that  the  slow  may  sometimes 
outrun  the  swift ;  still  less  did  he  rise  to  the  elevation 
of  St.  Paul,  that  strength  may  be  perfected  in  weak- 
ness. The  drift  of  his  reflection  is  no  more  than 
this :  that  both  the  strong  and  the  weak  are  the  sport 
of  fortune  ;  '  time  and  chance  happeneth  to  them  all.' 
But  we  have  not  learned  from  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
this  doctrine  of  despair,  though  the  temper  or  cir- 
cumstances of  some  persons  may  incline  them  to 
believe  it.  The  New  Testament,  speaking  in  the 
pre-scientific   age,  teaches   the    opposite   lesson  that 


XIV.]     THE  PARABLE   OF  THE  LABOURERS   247 

'  even  the  hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered.'  And 
science  repeats  the  same  thought  when  it  assures  us 
that  the  least  things  In  this  world,  as  well  as  the 
greatest,  including  our  own  thoughts,  cannot  escape 
from  the  domain  of  law. 

The  second  of  the  two  texts  which  is  prefixed 
to  this  discourse  Is  taken  from  the  '  Parable  of  the 
Labourers  in  the  Vineyard.'  In  that  parable  occurs 
the  expression  '  the  eleventh  hour,'  that  word  of 
warning  which  has  passed  into  popular  language, 
and  seems  to  be  always  finding  an  echo  in  the  heart 
of  man.  The  general  meaning  of  the  parable  may 
be  summed  up  as  follows :  Religion  Is  not  altogether 
a  service  of  time,  is  not  to  be  reckoned  by  hours, 
but  there  may  be  a  service  of  God  limited  to  one 
hour  only,  which  is  so  absolute  and  devoted  as  to  be 
more  acceptable  to  Him  than  a  whole  life  passed, 
perhaps  with  a  reasonable  self- satisfaction.  In  the 
customary  forms  or  works  of  religion.  Some  of  the 
labourers  In  the  vineyard  not  unnaturally  exclaim 
against  this  new  and  unheard-of  doctrine,  which  to 
them  seems  to  Involve  a  kind  of  injustice ;  their 
feeling  is  one  akin  to  the  Indignation  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  elder  brother  in  the  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  at  the  father's  reception  of  his  returning 
son.  Thus  far  all  is  clear.  But  the  words  which 
remain,  '  For  many  be  called  but  few  chosen,'  are 
hardly  consistent  with  the  rest  of  the  parable,  unless 
we  suppose  that   the  \2h0\j0rVls  who  had   borne  the 


248  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

burden  and  heat  of  the  day  are  finall)^  refused.  We 
should  rather  have  expected  that  they  would  have 
received  some  mild  and  conciliating  rebuke,  like  that 
given  to  the  elder  son  of  whom  I  was  just  now 
speaking :  '  It  was  meet  that  we  should  rejoice,'  and 
'  Son,  thou  art  ever  with  me  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine.' 
The  severity  of  the  Lord  of  the  Vineyard  seems  to 
be  out  of  harmony  with  the  character  of  him  who 
came  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  But  the  words, 
like  many  other  words  of  the  Gospel,  are  repeated 
twice  over  ;  they  are  appended  also  to  the  parable 
of  the  Wedding  Feast,  into  w^hich  there  came  among 
the  guests  a  man  not  having  on  a  w^edding  garment, 
where  their  meaning  is  appropriate  and  obvious. 
And  I  think  we  are  justified  in  saying  that  this  is 
their  true  place,  because  here  they  agree  with  the 
connexion,  and  receive  a  clear  and  apposite  meaning. 
As  we  might  say  :  '  Many  are  nominal  but  not  real 
Christians  ;  many  have  run  well,  but  have  not  per- 
severed to  the  end ;  many  have  the  first  but  not  the 
second  call ' ;  or  they  are  the  worse  for  having  sinned 
against  light  and  renounced  that  better  state  of  life 
which  they  once  knew  ;  they  are  like  those  of  whom 
the  author  of  the  Hebrews  speaks,  who  have  once 
tasted  the  good  word  of  God  and  the  power  of  the 
world  to  come,  and  have  rejected  them,  and  can  no 
longer  be  renewed. 

Not  dwelling  further  on  the  original  meaning  and 
place  of  these  words,  I  will  now  proceed  to  consider 


XIV.]     LABOUR  OF  TWELVE  HOURS  &-  ONE    249 

them  in  a  more  popular  and  general  sense.  Why  are 
the  last  first  and  the  first  last  at  school,  at  college,  in 
the  career  of  after-life  ?  Why  do  not  the  swift  always 
succeed  in  the  race,  nor  the  strong  in  the  battle  ? 
Why  have  some  laboured  all  the  twelve  hours  of 
the  day  and  come  to  little  or  nothing,  while  others 
who  have  not  undergone  this  laborious  drudgery  are 
suddenly  inspired  by  some  great  occasion  to  which 
they  have  been  found  more  than  adequate  and  have 
then  sunk  back  into  the  routine  of  ordinary  life  ? 
Why  is  the  fulfilment  often  so  different  from  the 
promise  ?  Why  do  great  abilities  often  produce  no 
result,  while  the  slow  growth  of  a  very  ordinary 
mind  seems  to  gather  into  itself  all  the  opportunities 
and  experiences  of  life  ?  Why  does  one  man  as  he 
advances  in  years  flourish  like  a  tree  planted  by  the 
waterside,  while  the  leaf  of  another  withers,  and,  long 
before  his  vital  functions  cease,  he  may  be  said  in 
a  figure  to  be  dead  and  buried  ?  Why  in  the  hands 
of  one  man  does  everything  succeed,  while  in  the 
hands  of  another  everything  goes  wrong  ?  Here  are 
many  questions,  or  rather  perhaps  many  forms  of  the 
same  question,  which  to  those  of  us  who  are  on  the 
threshold  of  manhood  and  just  starting  in  the  race 
cannot  be  without  interest.  I  will  sum  them  up  in 
a  word  :  What  are  the  causes  of  failure  or  success 
in  life  ? 

But  what  is  success  ?  not  in  the  mere  vulgar  sense 
of  the  term,  as  w^hen  we  speak  of  men  succeeding  in 


250  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

life  who  obtain  riches,  honours,  great  offices,  or  pre- 
ferments ;  but  what  is  success  in  the  higher  sense,  the 
success  of  the  mind,  if  I  may  use  such  a  term,  in 
which  man  is  raised  not  only  above  other  men,  but 
above  himself;  in  which  he  becomes  more  and  more 
his  own  master  and  is  not  overpowered  by  circum- 
stances, but  lord  over  them  ?  To  be  independent  is 
one  of  our  earliest  and  best  ambitions,  and  indepen- 
dence is  the  beginning  of  success.  A  man  cannot  walk 
freely  or  carry  out  any  plan  of  life  who  is  always 
in  anxiety  about  money  matters.  There  have  been 
saints  and  heroes  who  have  taken  no  thought  for  the 
morrow,  '  what  they  should  eat,  or  what  they  should 
drink,  or  wherewithal  they  should  be  clothed.'  But 
we  are  not  like  them :  and  In  general  it  is  the  better 
part  of  prudence  to  consider  a  little  about  our  daily 
needs,  especially  if  others  are  dependent  upon  us. 
Every  one  must  measure  for  himself  how  much  of 
external  goods  are  necessary  to  him,  what  sacrifices 
he  can  make  for  higher  objects  before  he  enters  on 
a  profession,  or  a  course  of  study,  or  a  religious 
calling.  Let  him  not  be  facing  both  ways,  or  with 
one  eye  looking  towards  earth,  the  other  directed  to 
heaven.  ^  If  ye  have  been  unfaithful  In  the  un- 
righteous mammon,  who  shall  commit  to  your  trust 
the  true  riches  ? '  is  a  maxim  of  Scripture  itself. 

Not  excluding,  then,  this  humble  care  of  making 
a  livelihood,  I  will  ask  once  more.  What  is  success ; 
and  what  idea  of  it  shall  we  propose  to  ourselves? 


XIV.]  FORMS   OF  SUCCESS  251 

To  have  carried  out  some  one  purpose  or  design 
during-  twenty  or  thirty  years,  to  have  contributed 
sensibly  to  the  happiness  of  others,  or  to  have  kept 
a  family  together;  to  have  obtained  a  fair  share  of 
this  world's  goods ;  to  have  added  something  real, 
if  not  very  great,  to  the  stock  of  human  knowledge  ; 
to  have  been  a  good  teacher,  to  have  succeeded  in 
a  profession  and  yet  to  have  risen  above  it;— who- 
ever seeks  or  obtains  any  of  these  aims  cannot  be 
said  to  have  lived  in  vain  :  as  the  world  goes,  he  may 
fairty  claim  to  be  called  a  successful  man. 

There  may  be  success  of  a  still  higher  kind,  of 
which  I  will  hereafter  say  a  few  words.  But  speaking 
generally,  the  above  may  be  regarded  as  a  tolerably 
accurate  description  of  w^hat  men  call  success  in  life 
such  as  we  should  desire  for  ourselves  or  our  friends. 
And  now  let  us  put  the  question  in  a  form  w^hich 
comes  nearer  home  to  us  :  let  us  ask  not  about  the 
nature  of  success  in  general  but  about  those  here 
present — who  Vv'ill  succeed  or  fail  ?  We  cannot  tell : 
each  one  must  ask  of  himself  and  answer  himself 
according  to  the  probabilities  of  the  case  and  his 
knowledge  of  his  own  character  and  circumstances. 
We  do  not  know  who  will  be  living  and  who  will 
have  passed  aw^ay  a  few  years  hence ;  w^ho  will  have 
been  cut  down  as  a  flow^er,  who  will  have  attained 
to  any  real  or  perfect  growth.  I  find  it  set  down 
in  tables  that  the  average  duration  of  human  life  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  is  about  thirty-six  years ;  so, 


252  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

if  we  drop  the  average,  of  those  here  present,  at  the 
expiration  of  thirty-six  years,  about  two-thirds  will 
already  have  passed  into  the  unseen  world,  while  the 
remaining  third  will  be  living  on  and  will  perhaps 
continue  to  live  on  until  they  reach  the  ages  of  sixty, 
seventy,  or  eighty,  and  the  like.  We  often  hear  in 
sermons  of  the  uncertainty  of  human  life ;  it  is  well 
that  we  should  sometimes  consider  the  comparative 
certainty  of  it.  This  thirty-six  years,  we  may  say  to 
ourselves,  is  on  the  average  the  time  which  God 
allots  to  us  for  the  fulfilment  of  our  w^ork  upon 
earth.  We  may  hope  for  a  little  more :  we  may 
fear  a  little  less ;  but,  speaking  generally,  thirty-six 
years,  or  about  13,000  days,  is  the  time  in  which 
the  task  must  be  accomplished  :  and  therefore  we 
must  rise  early  before  the  sun  is  well  over  our  heads 
in  the  spirit  of  that  great  French  statesman  (Turgot) 
who,  observ^ing  that  his  family  had  generally  died 
of  the  gout  before  fifty,  made  up  his  mind  before 
he  was  of  age  that  he  must  begin  at  once  if  he  was 
to  accomplish  anything  considerable  for  the  good  of 
his  country  or  of  mankind.  Six-and-thirty  years 
are  apt  in  youth  to  seem  a  long  and  interminable 
period.  But  yet,  believe  me,  they  soon  pass  away ; 
and  we  may  feel  painfully  at  the  end  of  them,  that 
the  task  which,  with  better  economy  of  time  and 
with  better  discipline  of  the  mind,  might  have  been 
completed  remains  unfinished,  and  we  are  uncertain 
whether  we  shall  still  have  the  power  to   complete 


XIV.]  CHANCES  OF  LIFE  253 

it.  Or,  if  you  like  to  do  the  same  for  later  life,  we 
are  told  by  those  who  make  such  calculations  their 
business  that  every  one  may  probably  live  half  the 
number  of  years  by  which  his  age  falls  short  of  eighty- 
four.  That  is  what  is  called  the  expectation  of  human 
life.  We  may  see  then  how  it  stands  with  us  at 
thirty,  at  forty,  at  fifty,  at  sixty:  we  may  reckon 
up  the  time  that  is  left  for  accomplishing  the  task 
which  is  entrusted  to  us.  And  we  may  still  hope 
that  of  what  remains  to  be  done  in  life  a  good  deal 
may  be  effected ;  remembering  too  that  this  calcu- 
lation of  days  and  years,  though  a  useful  aid  to 
reflection,  is  a  part  of  the  truth  only :  we  know 
that  such  computations  are  to  a  certain  extent  falla- 
cious: for  all  days  are  not  the  same  in  value  or  in 
use ;  there  are  occasions  when  human  spirits  rise 
above  themselves ;  and  an  eleventh  hour  at  which 
the  battle  may  be  lost  or  w^on. 

There  is  a  more  important  question  than  who  w^U 
be  alive  at  the  end  of  thirty -six  years :  w^hat  will  they 
be  doing?  Some,  if  I  may  judge  from  the  analog)^ 
of  the  past,  will  have  succeeded  in  life ;  they  will  have 
risen  to  high  positions ;  they  wall  have  made  or  in- 
herited large  fortunes ;  they  may  be  leading  men  in 
the  political  w^orld,  or  have  become  eminent  in  litera- 
ture. Will  they  have  attained  to  anything  like  real 
success  ?  That  depends  upon  the  spirit  in  w^hich 
they  have  lived.  Will  they  have  regarded  riches  and 
honours  and  a  great  worldly  position  as  an  end,  or 


254  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

only  as  a  means  ?  It  has  not  been  uncommon  for  the 
ambitious  man,  just  as  he  has  mounted  the  highest 
step  of  the  ladder,  to  discover  for  the  first  time  that 
'  This  also  is  vanity.'  Nor  is  there  anything-  more 
laughable  or  sad  than  the  sight  of  a  man  raised  to 
a  high  position  for  which  he  is  unfitted.  That  only 
is  true  success  in  which  the  mind  develops  and  ex- 
pands with  the  larger  opportunity. 

There  will  be  others  again,  not  the  less  happy 
because  they  are  unknown  to  fame,  plodding  along 
the  level  road ;  some  one  perhaps  as  a  country 
clerg^-man.  Will  he  differ  from  the  ordinary  clergy- 
man, who  has  many  virtues  not  to  be  despised,  who 
does  his  clerical  duty  carefully  and  punctually,  who 
brings  up  a  family  respectably,  who  drives  about  in 
a  humble  vehicle,  and  is  always  seeking  in  vain  to 
better  his  condition  ?  Or  will  he  and  his  wife  set 
an  example  of  poverty  which,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
old  saints  whom  I  mentioned  before,  makes  light  of 
earthly  considerations  ?  Will  they  be  living  for  others, 
and  especially  for  the  poor  ?  Will  they  educate  a  parish 
and  breathe  a  better  life  into  it  ?  Will  they  show  that 
the  grace  and  refinements  of  an  English  gentleman's 
home  does  not  depend  on  expensive  luxuries,  or  on 
many  ser\^ants  ?  Will  they  reflect  all  the  prejudices 
and  narrownesses  of  the  clerical  order  ?  or  will  some 
natural  touch  of  feeling,  some  higher  light  from 
heaven,  enable  them  to  live  in  equal  charity  with 
Dissenters   and    Churchmen }      And   some   again   of 


XIV.]    SUCCESS  OF  CLERGYMEN  &- LAWYERS    255 

those  whom  I  see  before  me  are  intending  to  be 
teachers, — a  noble  profession,  if  a  man  is  fitted  for 
it  by  moral  and  intellectual  gifts  and  will  throw  his 
whole  heart  into  it ;  and  also  the  most  dreary  and 
dishonest  of  professions,  if  undertaken  only  for  the 
love  of  gain  or  for  the  hope  of  preferment.  Thirty 
years  hence  those  who  may  choose  this  walk  of  life 
will  begin  to  think  that  their  work,  whether  well  or 
ill  done,  should  have  an  end,  and  they  will  be  looking 
forward  to  retirement  and  repose.  Let  them  try  to 
make  beforehand  the  reflections  which  they  will  here- 
after make  on  their  past  life.  They  will  observe 
perhaps  how  some  want  of  accuracy  or  defect  of 
knowledge,  some  carelessness  or  unpunctuality  which 
ought  to  have  been  corrected  in  early  life,  is  con- 
tinually besetting  them,  and  making  their  work  less 
real  and  effectual  than  it  ought  to  have  been :  the 
deficiencies  and  shortcomings  of  their  school  and  col- 
lege life  will  have  told  upon  the  next  generation. 
And  once  more,  among  those  here  present  there  are 
probably  not  a  few  who  intend  to  make  the  law 
their  profession  ;  and  some  of  them  will  attain  to 
the  rewards  which  the  law  has  to  offer :  they  will 
be  reaping  the  fruits  of  a  career  spent  in  honourable 
industry  ;  their  minds  will  be  cast  in  the  legal  mould  ; 
and  it  may  be  that  their  high  character  for  courtesy, 
for  uprightness,  for  liberality,  will  shed  a  light  upon 
their  profession.  But  they  must  begin  early  and  not 
look  back ;  and  they  must  not  weary  of  the  restraints 


256  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

which  the  study  of  a  great  subject  necessarily  imposes 
upon  them.  Among  those  who  choose  the  bar,  there 
will  be  many,  too,  who  have  gone  there  without  any 
definite  idea  of  what  they  were  doing  and  who  will 
be  mourning  over  a  wasted  and  unsatisfactory  ex- 
istence. They  will  have  made  a  mistake  in  selecting 
a  calling  which  was  overstocked,  or  for  which  at  any 
rate  they  did  not  possess  the  necessary  strength  of 
body,  or  force  of  mind  and  character.  Whether  the 
mistake  can  be  corrected  or  not  will  depend  upon 
the  possibility  of  their  leading  another  life  outside 
their  profession  in  which  they  can  find  an  interest 
or  sphere  of  usefulness.  They  will  not  easily  recover 
unless,  like  the  virtuous  man  in  Aristotle's  Ethics  who 
has  fallen  into  misfortune,  they  are^  [xeydkojv  Kal  KaXiov 
tv  kavTois  yevofxevoL  en-q^oXoL.  And  then  they  will  be 
subjected  to  more  trials  when  they  see  others  passing 
them  in  the  race,  and  feel  their  own  circumstances 
narrowed  and  their  hopes  darkened.  From  such 
difficulties  a  man  can  only  be  delivered  by  his  own 
courage  and  patience ;  he  may  remember  that  this 
world  is  not  all,  and  that  for  those  who  are  failures 
in  this  life  there  may  be  reserved  a  new  beginning  in 
the  life  to  come. 

There  is  nothing  sadder  in  this  world  than  the  lost 
or  wasted  lives  of  men ;  sadder  to  the  eye  which  is 
able  to  discern  them  than  poverty  or  death.  Those 
who  are  the  sufferers  in  this  generally  retain  a  life- 

^  Capable  in  themselves  of  things  great  and  noble. 


XIV.]  CAUSES   OF  ILL-SUCCESS  257 

long  delusion  about  them,  viz.  that  they  are  caused  by 
anybody's  fault  rather  than  their  own.  And  they  do 
in  fact  arise  commonly  not  out  of  any  great  fault  or 
crime  but  from  ignorance  of  the  world  or  want  of 
conduct,  or  neglect  of  opportunities  which  never 
recur.  Who  has  not  met  with  the  helpless  half- 
intelligent  man  full  of  many  schemes,  who  in  middle 
life  has  nothing  to  do,  and  is  soliciting  his  friends  to 
obtain  for  him  an  office  which  he  is  unfitted  to  hold, 
that  he  and  his  family  may  have  the  means  of  sup- 
port !  ('  Put  me  into  one  of  the  priest's  offices  that 
I  may  eat  a  piece  of  bread.')  Many  who  have  shown 
promise  at  the  University  have  degenerated  into  the 
meaner  sort  of  literary  writers.  I  will  not  dwell 
longer  on  a  painful  subject :  it  will  be  better  to 
consider  some  of  the  reasons  why  such  lamentable 
failures  occur,  and  how  they  may  be  avoided. 

First  among  the  causes  of  them  may  be  reckoned 
the  loss  of  opportunities :  Like  the  seeds  which  are 
carried  by  the  wind,  or  by  the  flight  of  insects  from 
one  plant  to  another,  enough  of  them  come  to  almost 
every  one,  but  we  do  not  observ^e  or  use  them.  The 
importance  of  certain  years  of  life  is  frequently  not 
recognized  until  they  have  passed  away.  If  there 
has  been  no  sowing  or  planting,  there  can  be  no 
harvest.  If  we  have  done  nothing  for  ourselves  be- 
tween fifteen  and  twenty-five,  we  cannot  do  much  in 
the  ten  years  that  follow ;  I  am  loth  to  say  that  a  man 
cannot  improve  at  any  age,  but  the  effort  is  more 

S 


258  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

severe,  and  the  gates  are  generally  closed  to  him. 
The  Universities  offer  great  opportunities,  not  only 
for  acquiring  knowledge,  but  for  making  friends  of 
the  best  sort,  for  gaining  honest  distinction,  for  rising 
out  of  poverty  and  obscurity.  Let  us  cherish  them  : 
for  they  will  never  return  in  our  whole  lives.  A 
reputation  such  as  may  be  made  here,  not  only  for 
intellectual  merit,  but  for  character,  honesty,  unselfish- 
ness, will  always  last,  and  will  not  leave  a  man 
altogether  friendless  in  the  struggle  of  life. 

Others  fail  after  they  leave  the  University.  They 
do  not  understand  that  the  time  has  arrived  when 
they  can  be  no  longer  led  or  guided  by  another,  but 
must  have  a  plan  and  purpose  of  their  own.  They 
are  of  hothouse  growth,  '  reared  in  the  shade  '  accord- 
ing to  the  Greek  saying,  and  cannot  bear  to  be  trans- 
planted into  the  open  air.  They  are  w^anting  in 
energy  and,  instead  of  fighting  their  way  to  eminence, 
they  sink  into  discontent  and  isolation.  They  read 
books  but  they  do  not  know  how  to  make  use  of 
them.  They  are  equal  to  the  composition  of  a  prize 
poem,  but  not  to  any  more  serious  literary  effort; 
often,  in  consequence  of  some  imaginary  slight,  they 
become  alienated  from  the  friends  w^hose  assistance 
they  most  need.  In  the  din  of  a  great  metropolis 
amid  the  keen  rivalries  of  professional  life,  why  should 
others  seek  them  out  when  they  shrink  into  them- 
selves ?  This  is  a  hard  saying :  and  yet  it  may  be  as 
well,  while  we  are  standing  on  the  edge  and  before  we 


XIV.]  FAILURE  AND  ITS   CAUSES  259 

take   the   plunge,  that  we   should   look  some  of  its 
realities  in  the  face. 

A  common  cause  of  failure  is  ignorance  of  the 
world.  The  last  thing  which  some  persons  acquire 
is  that  experience  of  life  which  is  necessary  to  take 
them  safely  through  it.  They  do  not  know  the 
characters  of  those  with  whom  they  have  to  deal; 
they  allow  themselves  to  be  entangled ;  they  are 
unable  to  protect  themselves  against  intruders  ;  they 
are  wanting  in  self-control  and  good  temper.  This 
inexperience  of  life  sometimes  proceeds  from  sim- 
plicity, more  often  from  some  weakness  and  vanity 
which,  by  interposing  the  image  of  self,  takes  away  the 
natural  insight  into  human  character.  To  walk  safely 
in  the  world  we  must  know  it :  and  there  is  perhaps 
no  subject  of  thought  or  conversation  more  interesting 
than  the  natures  and  dispositions  of  men.  Yet  should 
this  knowledge  of  human  nature  not  be  after  the 
manner  of  the  cynic  who  has  an  eye  only  for  the 
weaknesses  and  follies  of  his  fellow  creatures  and  ever 
inclined  to  the  worse  interpretation  of  them,  but  a 
knowledge  which  seeks  rather  to  imitate  the  example 
of  him  who  knew  what  was  in  man  and  yet  loved  him 
to  the  end. 

Another  common  cause  of  failure  is  a  want  of  the 
sense  of  proportion,  that  famous  art  of  measure  which 
the  Greek  philosopher  taught,  the  art  of  measuring 
things  in  their  relation  to  ourselves  and  in  relation  to 
one  another.     Men  aim  at  what  is  beyond  them  when 

S  2 


26o  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

they  might  have  been  useful  and  valuable  in  a  more 
humble  way  of  life.  They  have  dreams  of  ambition 
which  might  have  been  a  stimulus  to  them,  if  they  had 
ever  thought  seriously  of  the  means  by  which  their 
dreams  were  to  be  realized.  They  have  believed  that 
they  were  intended  by  nature  to  be  poets,  and  they 
had  really  probably  enough  of  the  poetical  tempera- 
ment to  make  them  admirers  or  feeble  imitators  of 
others.  But  they  did  not  consider  how  great  was  the 
interval  between  the  appreciation  of  poetry  and  the 
force  and  fire  of  genius.  Others  fancy  that  they  will 
become  great  authors  or  great  scholars,  when  they 
might  have  been  good  teachers.  Others  are  so  con- 
stituted that  they  overlook  the  obvious  and  seize  upon 
the  remote;  they  lose  themselves  in  paradoxes  and 
crotchets ;  this  is  not  the  stuff  out  of  which  sound 
lawyers  or  successful  practitioners  are  likely  to  be 
made.  So  youth  passes  away  in  many  illusions  and 
mistakes,  and  the  real  business  of  life  is  neglected. 

Other  causes  of  failure  I  will  sum  up  under  a  single 
one,  which  might  also  include  some  of  the  preceding — 
want  of  character.  Men  are  clever  and  knowing  and 
imaginative,  but  when  they  come  to  act,  when  they  are 
confronted  by  realities,  some  hidden  weakness  be- 
comes apparent  in  them  which  was  not  previously 
suspected.  The  thought  of  self  is  too  present  to 
them,  or  they  are  too  dependent  on  others,  or  they 
live  in  a  dream  of  sentiment,  or  perhaps  their  con- 
science is  not  clear  with  God  and  man.     They  are 


XIV.]  WANT  OF  CHARACTER  261 

paralysed  by  vices,  such  as  drunkenness,  which  are 
known  to  themselves  only,  and  there  may  be  other 
sins  which  are  even  more  secret  and  deadly.  And  so 
their  character,  like  their  bodies,  becomes  dwarfed  and 
stunted  and  demoralized.  There  is  hardly  anything 
that  a  young-  man  would  not  give  to  increase  his 
bodily  strength  or  his  skill  in  athletic  exercises,  to 
gain  craft  of  hand  or  suppleness  of  limb,  or  to  acquire 
a  noble  and  manly  form.  But  what  is  all  this  com- 
pared with  manliness  of  mind  ;  the  strength  which 
resists  evil,  the  insight  which  discerns  falsehood,  the 
resolution  which  carries  out  a  purpose,  the  patience 
which  endures  not  for  a  moment  only,  but  in  the 
great  trials  of  life  ? 

For  besides  the  earthly  contests  of  which  I  have 
been  chiefly  speaking  in  the  preceding  sermon,  there 
is  also  a  heavenly  contest  of  which  God  only  and  the 
angels  are  spectators.  It  begins  here  but  does  not 
end  here  ;  and  it  includes  in  itself  all  other  careers  of 
men. 

The  prize  which  it  offers  is  not  exactly  greatness 
or  honour,  but  something  of  another  kind  which  we 
can  only  conceive  in  part.  The  ideal  which  it  holds 
out  to  us  is  moral  rather  than  intellectual,  the  freedom 
from  pride  and  prejudice  and  self,  the  absolute  sim- 
plicity of  truth,  the  resignation  to  the  order  of  the 
world  and  to  the  divine  will ;  and  not  resignation 
only,  but  active  co-operation  with  them,  according  to 
our  means  and  strength  in  bringing  good  out  of  evil, 


262  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xiv. 

truth  out  of  falsehood.  He  whose  mind  is  absorbed 
in  these  thoughts  has  already  found  life  eternal.  He 
may  be  a  cripple,  or  blind,  or  deaf;  '  his  home  may 
be  a  straw-built  shed ' :  but  he  has  learnt  to  see  and 
hear  with  another  sense,  and  is  already  living-  in  a 
house  not  made  with  hands  or  of  man  s  building. 
And  this  perfect  harmony  with  the  divine  will  is  the 
best  image  or  likeness  which  we  can  form  of  that 
other  kingdom  of  God  in  which  we  hope  one  day  to 
be  partakers.  The  gold  of  the  Jewish  temple,  the 
land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  the  precious 
stones  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  fade  away  before 
our  eyes :  they  are  pictures  or  ornaments,  which 
may  have  a  fitting  place  in  the  outward  structure  of 
a  church,  but  they  do  not  reveal  to  us  its  inward 
nature :  neither  is  another  world  to  be  regarded 
as  the  mere  negation  or  contrast  of  this  ;  a  release 
from  its  bodily  infirmities,  a  rest  from  its  sorrows, 
a  restoration  to  its  lost  ones.  We  shall  do  better  to 
conceive  of  heaven  as  holiness  rather  than  happiness  ; 
as  a  state  of  the  mind,  not  of  the  body  ;  not  the 
brighter  light,  but  the  purer  affection,  the  higher 
exercise  of  the  faculties,  the  more  disinterested  love 
of  God  and  man.  A  future  world  is  dimly  seen  by 
us,  but  what  Is  seen  is  revealed  not  to  the  bodily  eye, 
but  to  the  discerning  spirit.  The  child  set  in  the 
midst,  the  sufferer  who  never  complains,  the  pure 
heart  in  which  there  is  no  alloy  of  sensuality,  the 
intelligence  which  delights  in  truth  only — these   are 


XIV.]     EAR  THL  Y  AND  HE  A  VENL  Y  SUCCESS     263 

the  nearest  approaches  which  we  can  make  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth. 

The  considerations  which  have  been  placed  before 
you  in  this  sermon  relate  chiefly  to  our  earthly  life, 
and  yet  they  may  receive  correction  and  enlargement 
from  the  thought  of  another.  For  there  is  an  eternal 
element  even  in  worldly  success,  when,  amid  all  the 
rivalries  of  this  world,  a  man  has  sought  to  live 
according  to  the  will  of  God  and  not  according  to  the 
opinion  of  men.  Whatever  there  was  of  justice,  or 
purity,  or  disinterestedness  in  him,  or  Christlike 
virtue,  or  resignation,  or  love  of  the  truth,  shall  never 
pass  away.  When  a  man  feels  that  earthly  rewards 
are  but  for  a  moment,  and  that  his  true  self  and  true 
life  have  yet  to  appear :  when  he  recognizes  that  the 
education  of  the  individual  beginning  here  is  con- 
tinued hereafter,  and,  like  the  education  of  the  human 
race,  is  ever  going  on :  when  he  is  conscious  that  he 
is  part  of  a  whole,  and  himself  and  all  other  creatures 
are  in  the  hands  of  God ;  then  his  mind  may  be  at 
rest :  he  has  nothing  more  to  fear :  he  has  attained  to 
peace  and  is  equally  fit  to  live  or  die. 


XV 

1  HE   BEING   DEAD    YET  SPEAKETH. 

Heb.  xi.  4. 

The  memories  of  the  greater  part  of  mankind 
soon  pass  away  and  are  forgotten.  They  hardly 
last  through  a  single  generation ;  not  even  while 
those  who  knew  them  are  still  alive  upon  the  earth. 
Others  take  their  places  and  dwell  in  their  houses ; 
the  old  story  of  love  and  death  is  repeated  at  intervals 
in  each  family ;  the  bridal  and  the  funeral  processions 
are  seen  coming  out  at  the  same  door.  We  hardly 
remember  the  names  of  those  who  have  preceded  us 
in  the  third  or  fourth  generation.  And  this  oblivion 
does  not  arise  from  any  callousness  or  unfeelingness 
of  the  human  heart.  It  is  the  order  of  nature  and 
of  providence.  One  cometh  and  another  goeth.  No 
effort  can  detain  the  fleeting  past.  The  grandchild 
knows  its  grandparents  only  for  a  few  years,  and 
to  most  men  when  they  are  approaching  death  their 
own  children  are  nearer  and  dearer  than  their  parents, 
because  they  are  most  present  with  them.  Yet  among 
the  countless  multitudes  who  have  passed  into  the 
Unseen  World   there   are   some  who   claim  a  more 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  October  16,  1892. 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  GOOD  265 

enduring-  remembrance  at  our  hands.  One  or  two 
have  a  place  in  our  thoughts  from  which  they  can 
never  be  dislodged.  They  may  have  been  bound 
to  us  by  some  singular  tie  of  affection,  such  as  that 
which  unites  a  mother  and  a  son  ;  or  there  may  have 
been  some  one  who  in  a  time  of  trial  or  disgrace  has 
been  to  us  more  than  a  brother  or  a  sister,  who  has 
soothed  us  in  sorrow  or  nursed  us  in  sickness,  who 
when  we  had  gone  wrong  has  led  us  by  the  better 
way  and  broug-ht  us  back  into  the  path  of  peace. 
The  words  of  such  persons  make  an  indelible  impres- 
sion on  us.  Or  they  may  have  been  some  one  of 
whom  we  fer\^ently  say,  '  He  was  the  best  man  whom 
I  ever  knew.'  Happy  are  they  who  have  had  such 
a  friend,  though  only  one  in  the  course  of  life. 
Their  example  is  as  a  light  ever  shining  upon  us, 
and  if  we  are  about  to  fall  into  sin,  the  recollection 
of  them  is  a  restraining  influence  upon  our  minds. 
We  desire  too  that  they  should  be  with  us  '  when 
our  light  is  low,'  or  if  they  have  gone  before  us,  we 
would  fain  think  that  we  are  following  them  when 
we  are  passing  beneath  the  shadow  of  death. 

Such  impressions  of  men  who  are  better  than 
ourselves  are  very  remarkable  to  those  who  have 
experienced  them.  Still,  they  are  private  and  indi- 
vidual only — a  word  or  two  whispered  in  the  ear 
from  time  to  time — not  a  great  influence  spreading 
widely  over  the  world.  They  are  not  famous  in 
history  like  inventors,  or  statesmen,  or  warriors,  or 


266  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xv. 

poets,  who  seem  never  to  pass  away,  but  to  have 
a  kind  of  immortality — such  immortality  as  human 
beings  are  capable  of.  These  are  they  who  in  the 
language  of  Scripture  are  called  '  benefactors,'  who 
would  be  more  familiarly  termed  by  us  '  great  men ' ; 
who  seem,  in  some  way  for  good  and  sometimes 
for  evil,  to  be  raised  above  the  ordinary  level  of 
humanity.  They  are,  in  a  manner,  mysterious  to  us. 
We  judge  of  them  chiefly  by  their  effects,  for  we 
find  a  difficulty  in  apprehending  the  workings  of  their 
minds.  One  such  man  during  the  past  week  has 
been  much  in  the  thoughts  of  all  of  us,  the  great 
poet  in  whom  the  w^orkings  of  so  many  hearts 
were  revealed,  who  sang  so  sweetly  of  the  simplest 
things  and  of  the  deepest,  who,  because  he  had 
suffered  himself,  was  so  great  a  comforter  to  others 
by  giving  voice  and  expression  to  their  sorrow. 
I  too  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  that  great  man. 
He  was  a  friend  of  about  thirty-five  years'  standing, 
who  once  came  to  see  me  at  Oxford,  and  whom 
I  used  to  visit  more  than  once  every  year  in  his 
own  house.  And  I  cannot  go  about  my  daily 
occupation  as  if  nothing  material  had  happened. 
I  cannot  but  remember  such  things  were,  and  were 
most  precious  to  me. 

Yet  it  is  not  of  him  that  I  am  about  to  speak  to 
you  chiefly  to-day.  Our  sorrow  for  him  is  a  public 
sorrow,  not  specially  felt  in  this  College,  but  one 
in  which   all  educated  Englishmen  may  be   said  to 


XV.]  DEATH  OF  TENNYSON  267 

have  a  part.  It  was  also  a  kind  of  triumph,  for  he 
died  full  of  years  and  honours,  in  the  vigour  of 
his  faculties,  followed  to  his  grave  by  the  noblest 
of  his  countr^^men.  The  sorrow  of  which  I  am 
about  to  speak  to  you  to-day  is  not  public,  but 
private,  or  comparatively  so ;  it  touches  us  nearly, 
but  at  home ;  it  affects  this  College,  and  I  may  say 
a  great  part  of  the  University,  but  not  in  the  same 
way  the  w^hole  country. 

One  who  was  greatly  beloved  among  us,  the  friend 
and  helper  of  us  all,  from  whom  we  parted  at  the  end 
of  last  term,  is  now  no  longer  here.  We  can  hardly 
realize  the  fact  at  present.  We  still  expect  to  see 
his  well-known  figure  walking  in  the  quadrangle, 
and  to  hear  his  voice  talking,  as  his  manner  was, 
to  some  undergraduate  friend ;  but  we  wake  up, 
and  it  is  a  dream.  His  death  is  one  of  the  greatest 
misfortunes  which  could  happen  to  us.  Hardly,  if 
at  all,  among  Oxford  teachers  was  his  equal  to  be 
found.  Many  of  you  have  been  present  at  those 
large  lectures  given  by  him  in  the  Hall,  delivered 
often  from  memory,  in  w^hich  the  character  of  the 
teacher  came  out  in  so  striking  a  manner;  as  has 
been  said  of  another  great  teacher,  'behind  what 
he  said  was  himself.'  He  had  ability,  learning, 
eloquence,  scholarship  ;  and  there  are  very  few  in 
whom  all  these  qualities  are  combined.  He  had 
found  out  also  that  the  greatest  gift  of  the  teacher 
is  sympathy.     He  knew  how  to  talk  to  one  of  his 


268  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xv. 

pupils  alone,  which  is  perhaps  the  higher  part  of 
teaching,  as  well  as  how  to  address  an  audience. 
We  have  heard  him  make  excellent  speeches  at  the 
College  Gaudy,  full  of  wit  and  humour,  in  which 
some  expressions  are  remembered  long  after  the 
occasion  which  gave  rise  to  them  has  passed  away. 
But  I  will  not  attempt  to  draw  a  detailed  picture 
of  one  whom  you  knew  so  well.  Nothing  would 
have  been  less  to  his  taste  than  a  studied  panegyric 
of  him.  He  lived  not  for  himself,  but  for  you  and 
for  others — that  is  enough.  I  am  afraid  that  I  did 
not  always  do  him  justice,  because  I  did  not  alto- 
gether understand  him.  For  he  was  quick  of  temper, 
and  sometimes  he  tended,  as  I  thought,  too  much  to 
depreciate  himself  and  the  usefulness  of  his  own 
work.  We  may  be  allowed  to  remark  on  such 
traits  of  character  without  imputing  blame.  They 
are  specks  in  the  sun,  not  to  be  weighed  in  the 
balance  against  a  noble  life. 

The  least  particulars  of  the  death  of  one  whom 
we  loved  are  interesting  to  those  who  knew  him. 
We  like  to  accompany  his  last  footsteps,  and  are 
apt  to  say  at  each  turn  of  the  narrative,  'Would 
that  this  had  been  better  cared  for,  or  that  some 
other  course  had  been  adopted,'  and  the  like ;  but 
such  thoughts  are  vain.  Our  dear  friend  was  fond 
of  climbing  among  the  high  Alps.  He  liked  to 
be  alone,  or  with  guides  only,  rather  than  with 
friends;    and  in  solitude  to  drink  in  the  wonderful 


XV.]  LEWIS  NETTLESHIP  269 

scenes  by  which  he  was  surrounded.  He  had  gone 
to  Switzerland  for  relaxation  about  two  months  ago — 
'  two  little  months ' — and  was  staying  from  August  1 3 
to  August  22,  at  the  Montanvert  Hotel,  which,  as  those 
of  you  who  are  Swiss  tourists  will  remember,  is  about 
two  hours'  walk  above  Chamonix,  situated  among 
pine  forests  on  the  way  leading  to  the  regions  of 
eternal  snow,  at  the  side  of  the  glacier.  Our  friend 
was  always  desirous  of  getting  out  of  the  beaten 
track  and  finding  for  himself  new  and  untrodden 
ways  among  the  mountains.  On  Wednesday,  August 
23,  after  making  various  excursions,  he  determined 
to  ascend  Mont  Blanc  by  the  Dome  du  Gouter, 
the  highest  summit  in  the  neighbourhood,  having 
an  altitude  of  about  14,000  feet.  He  and  his  guides 
slept  at  a  hut  on  the  previous  night ;  they  reached 
the  top  of  the  Aiguille  du  Gouter  at  11.30,  and 
started  again  at  midday  for  the  summit  of  the 
Dome.  Proceeding  on  their  way  for  an  hour  or 
two  they  were  met  by  a  violent  storm,  in  which 
they  helplessly  wandered  about — '  a  droite  et  a  gauche, 
a  gauche  et  a  droite,'  as  the  guides  said — until  at 
last,  about  five  o'clock,  not  being  able  to  see  in  any 
direction,  they  dug  a  hole  in  the  snow,  intending  to 
pass  the  night  there,  until  the  violence  of  the  storm 
had  abated.  There  was  a  danger  of  their  being 
frozen  to  death,  and  they  tried  to  keep  themselves 
awake  by  singing  and  talking.  The  guides  said 
that  they  could    not  sing,  and  so  our  dear  friend, 


270  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xv. 

though  he  characteristically  excused  himself  as  not 
having  much  voice,  sang  to  them  some  English  songs, 
such  as  we  have  often  heard  him  sing  in  the  College 
Hall.  The  guides,  who  were  devoted  to  him,  said 
that  he  sang  with  a  loud  voice,  and  had  worked 
as  hard  as  any  one  in  digging  out  the  hole  in  the 
snow.  They  had  plenty  of  meat  and  good  wine, 
but  the  cold  was  excessive. 

The  morning  light  returned,  but  there  was  no 
relaxation  of  the  storm,  and  they  could  see  nothing 
else.  At  last,  seemingly  in  an  impulse  of  despair, 
our  friend  darted  out  of  the  hole,  crying,  '  II  ne  faut 
pas  etre  laches,'  and  the  guides  followed  him.  But 
his  footsteps  soon  began  to  waver,  and  he  fell  for- 
wards on  his  face.  They  asked  him  what  was  the 
matter,  but  he  did  not  answer.  Wine  was  offered 
him  ;  but  he  said  in  the  voice  which  we  know  so 
w^ell,  '  Oh  no ! '  He  went  on  for  a  time  talking 
English  and  striking  his  thighs  with  his  hands  as 
he  sat  in  the  snow.  Then  he  held  out  a  hand  to 
each  of  them  and  pressed  their  hands  very  hard. 
One  of  them  said,  '  Au  revoir.  Monsieur,  tout  a 
rheure,'  for  they  quite  expected  to  die  themselves. 
They  thought  that  he  was  commending  himself  to 
God  in  prayer,  but  they  could  not  really  tell  what 
he  was  saying.  He  continued  speaking  in  English 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  suddenly  his  eyes  closed 
and  he  was  dead.  About  half  an  hour  afterwards 
the  storm  cleared,  and  they  were  found  to  be  within 


XV.]  A   DEATH  ON  MONT  BLANC  271 

reach  of  a  place  of  shelter.  The  guides  did  not 
suppose  that  he  suffered  any  acute  pain  during  his 
last  hours.  They  were  greatly  attached  to  him, 
they  thought  him  the  pleasantest  man  whom  they 
had  accompanied  in  their  travels :  '  II  etait  amusant, 
il  plaisantait.'  They  remarked  on  the  consideration 
which  he  showed  to  them,  as  indeed  towards  every- 
body, and  they  were  surprised  that  he  could  speak 
French  so  well.  The  master  of  the  hotel  at  Chamonix 
said  that  he  had  struck  him  at  first  sight  as  being 
what  the  English  would  call  a  gentleman.  I  think  we 
might  be  sure  that '  he  nothing  common  did  nor  mean ' 
at  that  solemn  time.  These  are  trifles,  but  as  I  said 
before,  the  least  things  in  which  the  character  of 
a  departed  friend  can  be  traced  are  interesting  to 
friends.  He  was  buried  at  Chamonix,  in  the  cemetery 
of  the  English  Church,  on  Monday,  August  29. 

So  passed  out  of  human  sight  and  knowledge  one 
of  the  best  of  men  and  one  of  the  greatest  teachers 
whom  we  have  had  at  Oxford  during  the  present 
generation.  We  were  willing  '  to  rejoice  in  his  light 
for  a  season.'  I  do  not  suppose  that  he  will  be  for- 
gotten by  any  of  his  pupils.  Twenty  or  thirty  or 
fifty  years  hence  the  memory  of  him  will  come  back 
to  them,  and  they  will  speak  of  him  to  the  Oxford  of 
another  generation.  He  is  w^ith  God,  where  we  too 
shall  be,  some  of  us,  in  no  long  time — most  of  us  are 
still  young  and  have  the  work  of  life  before  them. 
There  is  no  need  to  enlarge  further  on  the  circum- 


272  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xv. 

stances  of  our  dear  friend's  end.  All  death  is  sad,  but 
the  time  and  the  manner  of  it  do  not  make  much 
difference.  All  death  is  rest  and  peace,  deliverance 
from  sin  and  sorrow — yes,  and  from  our  own  selves, 
or  from  the  worst  part  of  us,  that  the  better  may 
remain.  '  The  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hands 
of  God,  and  there  shall  no  evil  touch  them.'  And 
so  we  return  to  earth  and  think  of  our  friend  once 
more  as  we  knew  him  while  he  was  still  present 
with  us. 

There  are  some  persons,  and  not  the  least  religious 
of  men,  who  seem  hardly  ever  to  speak  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  They  are  afraid  of  introducing  a  matter 
so  serious  into  daily  conversation  ;  or  they  are  over- 
whelmed by  the  difficulties  which  have  gathered 
around  the  faith  of  Christ  in  this  latter  age  of 
criticism  and  philosophy;  they  have  never  dis- 
entangled the  true  life  from  the  traditions  by  which 
it  has  been  overlaid.  They  have  a  high  sense  of 
honour  and  right,  and  they  do  their  duty  in  a  manner 
which  shames  most  of  us.  They  know  that  God  is 
good ;  and  in  their  lives  they  seek  to  imitate  Christ 
himself  by  going  about  doing  good.  But  they 
cannot  make  up  their  minds  to  profess  themselves 
the  members  of  a  Church  ;  it  would  not  seem  natural 
to  them.  What  shall  we  say  of  them  ?— that  they  are 
Christians  ?  that  they  are  not  Christians  ?  Shall  we 
lay  stress  on  the  name  rather  than  upon  the  thing? 
or  shall  we  boldly  affirm  the  familiar  words  of  a  poet 


XV.]  UNPROFESSED  RELIGION  273 

as   containing-  the   very  essence   of  the   teaching  of 
Christian  truth: 

*  He  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right.' 

Or  shall  we  adopt  an  uncouth  term,  which  yet  may 
have  a  great  significance  to  some  minds,  and  say  that 
they  are  '  Christian,'  but  in  unconsciousness  ?  Better 
perhaps  to  make  use  of  the  words  of  Christ  Himself 
and  say,  as  He  said  to  the  young  man  w^ho  had  kept 
the  commandments,  '  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  king"- 
dom  of  heaven.'  And  not  only  in  this,  but  in  many 
other  of  His  sayings,  Christ  Himself  must  be  regarded 
as  what  in  modern  language  would  be  called  a  '  lati- 
tudinarian,'  as  e.g*.  w^hen  He  denounced  existing 
systems  of  religion — '  neither  in  Jerusalem  nor  in  this 
mountain ' ;  or  w^hen  He  affirmed  that  the  true 
worship  was  the  worship  of  spirit  and  of  truth ;  or 
when  He  promised  a  place  in  His  kingdom  to  him 
who  gave  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  least  of  His 
disciples ;  or  in  the  words,  '  Except  a  man  receive 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child.'  There  are 
abundant  proofs  that  the  faith  of  Christ  does  not 
consist  in  niceties  of  doctrine,  but  in  a  pure  and  holy 
life.  We  shall  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion  if  we 
remark  what  an  entire  omission  there  is  in  the  Gospels 
of  many  opinions  and  statements  which  are  popularly 
considered  to  be  an  essential  part  of  the  Christian 
faith.  The  simplest  notion  of  Christian  teaching  is 
that  which  approaches  most  nearly  to  His  own. 

T 


274  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xv. 

I  have  made  these  few  remarks  with  reference  to 
our  departed  friend  because  he  is  one  of  those  who 
must  be  judged,  not  by  his  profession  of  faith,  but 
by  his  Hfe.  Probably  he  would  have  thought  that 
the  great  mysteries  of  human  existence,  so  far  as 
they  could  be  expressed  at  all  in  words,  admitted 
of  various  forms  of  description  and  definition.  He 
would  have  regarded  man  as  having  a  better  self, 
a  better  mind,  a  higher  consciousness  in  which  the 
elements  of  religious  truth  were  contained.  The 
lower  consciousness  is  the  sum  of  the  material  con- 
ditions of  man's  being,  the  higher  is  the  spirit  of 
God  dwelling  in  him. 

This  conception  of  religion  might  be  described 
shortly  as  the  law  of  the  better  mind,  drawing 
together  individuals  and  societies,  and  reconciling 
them  to  one  another  and  to  God.  Such,  I  infer, 
somewhat  doubtfully,  to  have  been  the  character  of 
his  own  religious  belief  from  the  sketch  which  he 
has  given,  and  in  which  he  appears  to  agree,  of  the 
teaching  of  his  friend  and  master.  Professor  Green,  in 
a  book  written  by  him  which  is  at  once  an  admirable 
biography  and  a  most  interesting  study  of  philosophy. 
But  he  would  have  been  always  slow  to  speak  of  such 
subjects ;  for,  like  many  other  good  men,  he  seemed 
to  stand  more  firmly  on  grounds  of  duty  and  practice 
than  of  opinion.  He  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  into 
the  dark  places  of  theology,  but  whatever  his  hand 
found  to  do  at  the  moment,  he  did  it  with  all  his 


XV.]    FAREWELL  TO  A  NOBLE  CHARACTER     275 

might.  He  had  great  simplicity  as  well  as  mag- 
nanimity ;  I  should  think  that  he  never  had  a  quarrel 
or  an  enemy.  He  did  not  care  to  talk  of  himself  or  of 
the  College,  and  hardly  at  all  of  persons.  He  was 
very  pleasant  in  society,  though  too  much  occupied 
with  his  pupils  to  take  a  leading  part  in  it.  He  was 
a  lover  of  music  too,  and  had  a  great  belief  in  its 
power  as  an  instrument  of  education.  Nothing  was 
more  beautiful  in  his  character  than  his  devotion  to 
his  venerable  mother,  whom  he  used  constantly  to 
visit  in  her  sick  room,  which  during  the  last  few 
months  she  had  been  unable  to  quit.  He  was  a  lover 
of  a  garden  in  which  he  used  to  work  himself,  and 
it  was  pleasant  to  see  him  on  a  summer's  morning 
gathering  flowers  with  which  to  present  her.  So 
innocent  and  dutiful  was  his  life  in  small  things  as 
well  as  great ;  like  a  breath  of  fresh  air  blowing  to 
us,  amid  the  conventionalities  of  society,  from  some 
truer  region,  '  like  the  dew  of  Hermon  which  fell 
upon  the  mountains  of  Sion,' 

And  so,  dear  friend,  we  take  leave  of  thee  ;  to- 
morrow we  return  to  our  accustomed  work,  bitterly 
reflecting  that  we  have  no  longer  thy  counsel  and 
experience,  thy  sweet  example  to  be  our  guide.  We 
feel  that  upon  all  of  us  there  falls  a  heavier  responsi- 
bility than  hitherto.  For  about  640  years  without 
interruption  this  College  has  been  a  home  of  learning 
and  religion  ;  during  the  last  seventy  or  eighty  years 
some  peculiar  distinction  has  attached  to  it  of  which 

T  2 


276  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

we  are  proud ;  or  rather,  I  would  say,  it  has  grown 
up,  we  cannot  tell  how,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  by 
the  self-devotion  of  generations  who  have  preceded  us. 
The  care  of  this  inheritance  is  now  entrusted  to  us, 
and  we  must  pray  and  strive  that  we  prove  ourselves 
worthy  of  it,  and  maintain  its  fair  fame  by  dihgence, 
by  endurance,  by  energy,  by  union  with  one  another, 
by  outward  decorum  and  courtesy,  by  inward  purity 
of  life,  so  that  it  may  be  truly,  and  not  in  name  only, 
a  Christian  society.  Would  that  every  one  in  after- 
life could  look  back  upon  the  three  or  four  years 
which  he  has  spent  at  the  University  as  having  set 
their  mark  upon  him  of  happiness  and  good.  During 
the  last  ten  years  this  College  has  been  singularly  tried 
by  the  loss  of  several  of  its  most  eminent  members. 
Yet  there  have  not  been  wanting  others  who  have 
filled  up  the  breach.  And  we  pray  God  that  the 
loss  of  our  dear  brother,  which  has  been  so  grievous 
to  us,  may  not  be  without  fruit  by  awaking  in  our 
minds  a  deeper  sense  of  the  obligation  which  lies 
upon  us,  and  of  the  blessings  which  we  enjoy  in 
this  place. 


XVI 

^AND  AS  HIS   CUSTOM  WAS,  HE  WENT  INTO  THE 

SYNAGOGUE  ON  THE  SABBATH  DAY. 

Luke  iv.  i8. 

The  worship  of  the  Synagogue  was  widely 
spread  among  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  our  Lord.  As 
in  all  the  Eastern  religions,  there  had  sprung  up 
among  them  a  moral  teaching  independent  of  the 
ceremonial  which  was  consecrated  by  tradition.  This 
was  partly  based  on  the  language  of  the  prophets,  who 
from  the  times  of  Micah  and  Isaiah,  seven  hundred 
years  before,  had  denounced  ritualism  in  words  which 
must  have  sounded  strangely  in  the  ears  of  Jewish 
kings  and  priests,  and  which  are  almost  too  strong 
for  us  to  bear  in  the  present  day  ('  Bring  no  more 
vain  oblations  :  your  new  moons  and  Sabbaths  are 
an  abomination.'  '  It  is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn 
meeting ').  The  force  of  these  utterances  had  passed 
away  ;  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  they  were  con- 
stantly in  the  mouths  of  the  Gamaliels  or  Hillels 
of  the  day,  who  probably  had  their  modes  of  recon- 
ciling them  to  existing  institutions.  But  still  the 
Synagogues  represented  something  different  from 
the   old   worship   of  the   temple  and  tabernacle ;   it 

^  Preached  at  Balliol  in  1875. 


278  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

belonged  to  another  age,  and  although  the  smoke  of 
the  evening  sacrifice  still  went  up  as  in  the  days  of 
Solomon,  yet  in  the  minds  of  men  the  sacrifices  had 
become  figures  and  symbols.  A  religion  of  words 
and  ideas  had  taken  the  place  of  external  rites  and 
teachers  and  preachers  of  priests  and  Levites. 

Into  one  of  these  Synagogues,  which  seem  to  have 
been  erected  in  every  large  town,  Christ,  as  His 
custom  was,  entered  on  the  Sabbath  day  and  taught 
the  people.  What  would  we  not  have  given  to  have 
heard  '  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of 
His  mouth ' ;  or  even  to  have  had  them  reported  to  us 
exactly  as  they  were  spoken !  The  discourses  of 
Christ  in  the  Gospel  are  but  fragments  of  His  entire 
teaching;  these  words  which  have  been  the  light  of 
the  world  occupy  altogether  but  a  few  pages.  And 
we  are  reminded  of  the  singular  remark  which  occurs 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  Gospel :  '  Many  other  things 
Jesus  did,  the  which  if  they  should  be  written  every 
one,  I  suppose  that  the  world  itself  could  not  contain 
the  books  which  should  be  written.'  Any  history, 
any  record  of  a  life  is  necessarily  imperfect :  while  the 
oral  traditions  remain,  there  is  often  no  interest  in 
collecting  them  or  writing  them  down  :  too  late,  care 
begins  to  be  taken,  and  for  ages  afterwards  the  minds 
of  men  are  occupied  in  recovering  fragments,  in 
reasoning  about  disputed  meanings  of  words,  or  re- 
conciling contradictory  statements.  In  the  middle 
of  the  second  century  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 


XVI.]  CHRIST  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUES  279 

that  anything  more  was  known  of  the  apostoHc  age 
than  is  now  contained  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles. 
Still  these  difficulties  do  not  prevent  us  from  obtaining 
a  living  image  of  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  Christ,  as 
He  spoke  to  His  disciples  of  His  Father  and  their 
Father,  of  His  God  and  their  God.  Even  of  the 
outward  manner  and  circumstances  of  His  life,  though 
these  are  not  so  important  as  is  sometimes  imagined, 
the  recollection  has  been  presented  to  other  ages. 
We  can  still  read  how  He  went  up  alone  into  a 
mountain  to  pray ;  how  He  taught  the  people  out  of 
a  boat  on  the  lake  of  Gennesareth  ;  how  at  Jerusalem 
He  was  wont  to  resort  to  a  garden  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley,  whither,  after  He  had  sung  a  hymn 
shortly  before  His  death.  He  retired  with  His  disciples  ; 
how  He  entered  into  the  Synagogues,  as  His  custom 
was,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  then  expounded  to  the 
people  the  words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  which  He 
applied  to  Himself 

The  custom  of  meeting  together,  not  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  seems  to 
have  existed  among  Christians  from  the  earliest  times. 
Before  the  end  of  the  second  century  simple  forms  of 
celebrating  the  Communion  had  become  fixed  among 
them.  Even  in  the  New  Testament,  though  there  is 
no  trace  of  a  regular  hierarchy,  or  of  a  distinction 
between  the  clergy  and  laity,  nor  any  mention  of 
a  form  of  worship,  yet  we  may  observ^e  that  the 
assembling  of  the  disciples  on  Sunday  is  a  custom 


28o  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvr. 

already  in  use.  On  the  first  day  of  the  week  they 
came  together  and  brake  bread,  and  Paul  preached 
to  them ;  and  he  exhorts  the  Corinthian  Christians  to 
make  a  collection  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week.  Thus  probably  older 
than  the  New  Testament,  older  than  the  institution 
of  Episcopacy  or  of  any  other  form  of  Church  govern- 
ment, is  that  custom  of  public  worship  on  Sundays, 
which  after  the  example  of  Christ  and  the  Apostle 
St.  Paul  we  still  continue.  For  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  years  there  has  never  been  a  Sunday  in 
which  Christians  have  not  met  together ;  sometimes  in 
days  of  persecution,  when  the  doors  were  shut  for 
fear  of  the  Jews,  at  other  times  in  gorgeous  edifices 
reared  by  the  munificence  of  princes,  amid  ceremonial 
pomp  and  splendour ;  in  an  upper  room  where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together,  in  the  poor  brick 
buildings  of  our  Wesleyan  or  Dissenting  brethren,  in 
cathedrals  like  Cologne  or  Milan,  filled  from  end  to 
end  with  a  sea  of  worshippers.  There  is  no  Christian 
structure  now  existing  in  the  world  which  has  lasted 
eighteen  centuries,  but  the  custom  has  survived  them 
all,  and  certainly  forms  a  truer  link  with  primitive 
antiquity  than  any  merely  external  memorial. 

Such  thoughts  as  I  have  been  endeavouring  to 
suggest  have  a  poetical  and  antiquarian  interest  for  us. 
We  should  not  like  to  see  this  ancient  custom  given 
up,  or  the  churches  closed.  The  most  irreligious 
man  would  feel  that  we  had  lost  what  we  could  ill 


XVI.]         CUSTOM  OF  PUBLIC   WORSHIP  281 

afford  to  spare.  The  sentiment  of  the  past  would 
still  linger  in  his  mind.  But  far  more  interesting  is 
the  practical  question  of  the  use  of  such  observances 
to  us.  What  do  we  mean  by  assembling  here  at  this 
time  to  repeat  prayers  or  to  listen  to  a  sermon  ?  Is 
this  merely  a  form  which  respectable  people  com- 
monly obser\^e,  or  is  there  some  higher  feeling  which 
actuates  them  ?  What  object  docs  the  preacher 
propose  to  himself?  Does  he  imagine  that  he  can 
say  anything  new  on  well-worn  topics,  or  that  in 
a  moment  his  words  will  turn  a  sinner  from  his  evil 
way?  Are  prayers  and  sermons  continued  only 
because  they  are  customary,  or  have  they  still  a  high 
function  to  perform  in  the  education  of  mankind  ? 
With  many  persons  they  are  summed  up  together 
under  the  familiar  expression  '  going  to  Church,' 
a  habit  w^hich,  if  altogether  destitute  of  any  thought 
or  feeling,  seems  to  be  rather  an  act  of  irreverence 
than  of  reverence.  Why  should  we  waste  our  time 
sitting  and  meeting,  or  pretending  to  meet,  if  our 
minds,  instead  of  engaging  in  the  service,  are 
wandering  to  other  scenes  of  pleasure  or  business  ? 
A  religion  which  is  formal  or  insincere  is  worse  than 
none  at  all.  Not  to  do  what  we  pretend  to  be  doing 
greatly  weakens  and  injures  the  character.  I  will 
not  say  this  about  a  religion  which  is  partially  in- 
sincere, or  deny  that  some  elements  of  good  may 
not  be  latent  in  the  mere  force  of  habit  which,  if 
once  lost,  cannot  easily  be  recovered.     In  the  worship 


282  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

of  God,  as  in  everything-  else,  we  should  be  true  to 
ourselves,  and  not  use  unreal  words.  We  want  to 
pierce  through  the  dead  letter  and  awaken  in  our 
minds  the  living-  spirit.  And  those  of  us  who  preach 
should  be  careful  of  saying  more  than  they  believe, 
for  the  sake  of  employing  a  customary  phrase  or  of 
winning  acceptance  with  their  hearers.  There  are 
difficulties  in  having  forms  of  worship  which  will  be 
acceptable  to  all ;  nor  can  the  preacher  always  please 
his  audience.  To  some  persons  he  will  seem  to  be 
too  much  in  advance  of  their  opinions,  while  to  others 
he  will  appear  to  lag  behind  them.  Those  who  have 
been  brought  up  in  a  different  school  of  religious 
thought  will  be  apt  to  think  him  unbelieving,  or 
superstitious;  falling  short,  as  they  would  say,  in 
Ills  views  of  Gospel  truth ;  those  who  have  never 
considered  religion,  if  they  do  not  deem  him  a 
hypocrite,  will  denounce  him  as  a  mystic,  and  will 
be  able  to  attach  no  meaning  to  his  words.  It  has 
seemed  to  me  that,  with  the  view  of  clearing  up  some 
of  these  difficulties,  we  might  with  advantage  consider 
the  nature  and  meaning  of  pubhc  worship.  What 
is  its  use  and  what  are  its  limitations  ?  and  what  are 
the  feelings  with  which  we  naturally  approach  it  ? 

The  first  feeling  that  we  have  on  entering  a  church 
is  one  of  peace  and  repose.  The  world  is  in  such 
a  hurry  and  is  moving,  as  some  people  tell  us,  so 
much  faster  than  formerly,  that  we  seem  to  want 
a  few  minutes  of  rest,  an  occasional  breathing  time, 


XVI.]   REPOSE  &-  ASPIRATION  IN  CHURCH      283 

before  we  go  hence.  We  desire  to  be  with  God, 
as  we  believe  that  we  shall  hereafter  be  with  Him. 
Here,  at  any  rate,  the  strife  of  tongues  Is  hushed, 
the  strain  of  mind  is  taken  off,  the  cares  of  life  are 
no  longer  immediately  present  to  us :  '  there  is  a  great 
calm.'  Here  we  pause  for  a  moment  in  our  journey 
that  we  may  proceed  refreshed.  Here  we  are  raised 
above  the  mean  thoughts  of  mankind ;  we  hear  the 
words  of  the  saints  and  prophets  of  old ;  we  live  for 
a  short  time  in  the  nearer  companionship  of  God 
and  of  another  world ;  we  pass  in  review  the  last 
day  or  two,  and  ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  doing 
enough  for  others;  we  seek  to  realize  in  our  minds 
a  higher  standard  of  duty  and  character.  Here  are 
revived  in  us  those  aspirations  after  another  and 
better  state  of  being,  which  in  good  men  are  always 
returning  and  are  never  completely  satisfied,  but 
which,  like  wings,  bear  us  up  on  the  sea  of  life, 
and  prevent  our  sinking  into  the  routine  of  custom 
which  prevails  in  the  world  around  us.  Here  we 
resign  ourselves  to  the  pure  thought,  to  the  pure  will, 
to  the  pure  mind,  which  is  the  truer  part  of  our  own 
souls,  and  in  which  and  through  which  we  see  God. 

The  meeting  together  in  church  is  not  only  a 
communion  with  God,  but  a  communion  with  one 
another.  Men  come  together  in  society  and  con- 
verse, and  when  society  is  happy  or  pleasant,  there 
is  a  common  spirit  which  draws  them  towards  one 
another :    their  hearts   are   in    harmony  like  chords 


284  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

of  music.  And  so  we  meet  in  church  to  express  our 
common  hopes  and  feelings,  not  hke  children  who 
are  disciplined  in  early  life  to  sit  still,  but  because 
such  an  expression  of  feeling  is  natural  to  us ;  and 
as  we  draw  near  to  God  we  draw  nearer  to  one 
another.  The  preacher  speaks  to  us  of  peace  and 
good- will  in  heaven,  '  and  oh  that  it  might  be  so 
on  earth ! '  We  are  taught  that  because  Christ  first 
loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another.  Here 
we  are  reminded  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
and  that  when  seen  by  Him  men  are  very  different 
from  what  they  appear  in  the  eyes  of  their  fellow- 
men,  having  their  distinctions  of  dress  and  employ- 
ment and  their  gradations  of  rank  and  wealth,  and 
that  the  first  may  be  last  and  the  last  first.  Here 
again  we  receive  a  kind  of  support  and  strength 
from  one  another.  There  are  subjects  of  which  we 
do  not  often  talk,  for  they  lie  too  deep  for  conver- 
sation, except  perhaps  amongst  intimate  friends;  of 
these  we  speak  and  think  when  at  church — of  the 
life  after  death,  of  our  relation  to  God,  of  departed 
friends  and  relatives,  of  the  common  sorrows  and 
joys  and  hopes  and  fears  which  agitate  the  souls  of 
men.  As  in  lower  things,  so  also  in  higher,  there 
is  a  sympathy  of  mind  with  mind  which  finds  an 
expression  in  the  public  worship  of  God. 

It  would  be  foolish  to  maintain  that  we  should 
be  always  attending  to  the  words  of  the  service, 
or  that  our  thoughts  may  not  wander  to  our  own 


XVI.]    THOUGHTS  CONGENIAL  TO  CHURCH      285 

individual  circumstances.  The  advantage  of  public 
worship  is  that  it  is  also  private :  any  reasonable 
act  of  devotion  may  form  part  of  it ;  we  may  offer 
up  to  God  our  studies,  entreating  Him  to  give  us 
the  power  so  to  use  our  natural  talents  that  they 
may  be  the  instruments  of  His  service.  We  may 
consecrate  to  Him  our  business,  praying  that  the 
gains  which  we  make  may  be  employed  in  His  ser- 
vice, and  sometimes  devising  plans  of  charity  or 
philanthropy.  We  may  review  our  faults,  begging 
Him  to  take  from  us  all  vanity,  levity,  sensuality, 
and  to  infuse  into  us  a  new  mind  and  character. 
We  are  Aveary  of  our  shallowness  and  want  of  depth 
and  repose ;  and  perhaps  the  very  wandering  of  our 
thoughts  at  sacred  times  or  in  sacred  places  may  be 
only  an  example  of  this.  There  is  that  offence 
which  we  needlessly  gave  from  a  foolish  habit  of 
talking  ;  that  trifling  duty  which  we  omitted  ; 
that  antipathy  we  cannot  help  entertaining  towards 
another,  perhaps  because  nature  cast  him  in  a  dif- 
ferent mould  from  ourselves ;  and  there  are  many 
other  rough  and  crooked  places  in  life  to  be  smoothed 
and  straightened.  These  shortcomings  of  our  lives 
we  may  collect  before  God.  There  is  no  want  of 
interest  in  reflections  like  these,  though  our  minds 
are  apt  to  turn  away  from  them  and  it  is  only  by 
an  effort  that  we  can  recall  them. 

Then  again  we  may  think  of  any  good  which  we 
can  do  to  others,  remembering  them  individually  in 


286  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

the  presence  of  God  ;  not  so  much  praying  for  them, 
as  praying-  that  we  may  be  actively  inspired  to  help 
them.  There  are  some  persons  dearer  to  us  than 
others  in  the  world,  and  for  them  as  well  as  for  our- 
selves we  may  ask  that  this  love  or  natural  affection 
w^hich  we  feel  towards  them  may  be  converted  into 
a  fellow  service  of  God  and  man.  We  may  cast  our 
cares  upon  God — that  failure  at  the  University  or  in 
life  or  in  a  profession,  that  loss  of  property  which 
so  unreasonably  depresses  us,  that  continual  want  of 
health  which  makes  our  days  hopeless,  that  domestic 
misfortune  or  disgrace  of  which  we  do  not  like  to 
speak  to  others.  As  in  a  family  our  parents  are  our 
best  confidants,  so  God  is  our  father  and  confidant 
in  Whom  we  trust,  telling  Him  of  our  weaknesses  and 
receiving  strength  from  Him.  Or,  once  more,  we 
may  ask  of  Him  to  illumine  our  minds  with  the 
spirit  of  truth,  with  fairness  and  judgment,  with 
accuracy  and  clearness,  that  in  some  way,  whether 
by  teaching  or  writing,  we  may  assist  in  the  educa- 
tion of  mankind:  so  many  topics  of  thought  are 
there  on  which  we  may  reflect  and  at  the  same  time 
wish,  for  prayer  is  a  time  for  wishing  and  thinking, 
not  as  some  imagine  a  mere  enthusiasm,  or  act  of 
prostration,  but  requiring  the  highest  exercise  of  the 
intellect,  as  well  as  the  deepest  affection  of  the  heart. 
God  does  not  demand  of  us  that  we  should  lie  down 
before  Him,  like  worms  crawling  in  the  sunshine,  but 
that  with  our  reason,  the  highest  of  His  gifts,  we 


XVI.]        PRIVATE  AND  PUBLIC  PRAYER  287 

should  seek  to  recognize  the  truth  of  His  nature — 
that  we  should  watch  what  experience  teaches  about 
His  modes  of  dealing-  with  us — that  we  should  turn 
again  to  that  image  of  Himself,  transcending  expe- 
rience, which  He  has  set  in  the  human  heart.  These 
are  some  of  the  thoughts  which  rise  in  our  minds 
spontaneously  at  times  of  public  worship.  We  need 
not  bend  our  eyes  upon  vacancy,  or  constrain  our- 
selves by  an  unnatural  effort  to  be  always  attending 
to  the  same  form  of  words. 

It  may  be  worth  while  in  passing  to  notice  a  dif- 
ficulty which  presses  on  us  when  we  begin  to  think, 
but  is  not  observed  in  the  days  when  the  use  of 
a  religious  service  is  merely  formal  and  conventional. 
A  liturgy,  like  everything  else,  begins  to  be  criti- 
cized ;  and  then  persons  find  that  the  spirit  of  this 
or  that  portion  is  out  of  harmony  with  their  own 
feelings,  or  the  requirements  of  the  age.  Some  would 
desire  more  intense  acts  of  devotion,  such  as  they  find 
in  Roman  Catholic  prayer-books  ;  others  are  offended 
at  requests  for  temporal  blessings,  or  at  the  too  great 
precision  of  statements  of  doctrine  which  seem  to  go 
beyond  the  statements  of  Scripture  or  the  limits  of 
the  human  faculties.  Others  are  reluctant  to  repeat 
the  imprecations  of  the  Psalmist  against  his  enemies, 
and  are  justly  dissatisfied  with  the  attempts  to  explain 
them  away.  Others  again  are  displeased  at  the  repe- 
tition of  the  same  confession  day  after  day — for  why, 
if  we  confess  that  we  are  miserable  sinners,  do  we  not 


288  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

cease  to  be  miserable  sinners  ?  or  why,  when  we  are  un- 
conscious of  any  sin  committed  or  any  duty  unfulfilled, 
should  we  still  repeat,  'We  have  done  those  things 
which  we  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  we  have  left 
undone  those  things  which  we  ought  to  have  done '  ? 

These  are  some  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
use  of  a  Liturgy,  to  be  outweighed  probably  by  other 
and  greater  advantages.  In  our  own  Liturgy  I  am 
far  from  denying  that  there  are  many  things  which 
require  alteration.  No  reasonable  man  supposes  that 
our  ancestors  three  hundred  years  ago,  amid  the  con- 
troversies of  the  Reformation  and  the  agitations  of 
politics,  did  actually  settle  the  government  and  wor- 
ship of  the  English  Church  in  the  best  possible 
manner,  or,  even  if  they  had,  that  what  was  best  for 
them  is  necessarily  best  for  us.  It  would  be  well  if 
we  could  alter  some  of  these  things,  but  the  time 
seems  to  be  past  when  the  Church,  though  always 
changing  at  the  will  of  individuals  from  within,  will 
easily  admit  of  any  change  from  without.  There  is 
the  struggle  of  the  old  and  new,  the  impossibihty  of 
pleasing  everybody,  or  of  inventing  a  form  of  words 
equally  adapted  to  the  intelligence  of  the  many  and 
of  the  few.  And  though  there  is  a  limit,  and  perhaps 
this  Church  Reform  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  age 
which  we  neglect,  we  are  content  to  give  up  some- 
thing for  the  sake  of  union.  And  then  there  is  the 
difficulty  of  any  form  of  words  w^hich  shall  be  equally 
suited  to  the  ideas  and  wants  of  all  classes.     To  one 


XVI.]  ALTERATIONS  IN  LITURGY  289 

of  us  It  might  be  said :  You  believe  in  fixed  laws  of 
nature,  but  what  idea  can  the  poor  or  uneducated 
form  of  fixed  laws  ?  His  conception  of  God,  like 
that  of  a  child,  is  necessarily  homely  and  imperfect. 
We  may  seek  to  enlighten  him  as  far  as  we  can,  but 
the  language  of  the  age  when  mankind  also  were 
children  is  more  suited  to  his  faculties.  Again,  with 
reference  to  the  Confession,  though  it  might  be  better 
that  such  solemn  words  were  not  repeated  day  after 
day  until  they  are  apt  to  become  formal,  yet  there  is 
a  truth  of  feeling  in  them  which  comes  home  to  the 
religious  mind,  '  The  best  of  us  are  doing  so  little  and 
that  so  ill,  in  comparison  of  the  requirements  of  God.' 
Our  lives  are  poor  and  unsatisfactory,  and  the  daily 
wish  of  our  hearts  is  that  they  may  become  purer, 
holier,  better.  At  times  when  we  feel  how  we  are 
under  the  influence  of  interested  motives  or  of  the 
opinions  of  others,  how  little  we  have  of  nobility  or 
independence,  we  are  tempted  to  say,  '  Lord  there 
is  no  health  in  us.'  Certainly  we  do  not  value  any- 
thing that  we  do :  the  better  we  are,  the  more 
conscious  we  become  of  our  own  defects ;  the  wiser 
we  are,  the  more  sensible  w^e  grow  of  our  own 
ignorance.  We  know  that  every  good  gift  has  come 
from  Him  and  that  He  alone  '  has  made  us  to  differ 
from  others';  and  our  only  desire  is  that  we  may  give 
back  to  Him  what  He  has  given  to  us. 

No  doubt  our  Services  would  have  a  more  Christian 
spirit  if  some  passages  of  Scripture  had  been  omitted. 

u 


290  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

Some  of  them  may  be  regarded  as  merely  historical 
narratives;  but  this  explanation  will  not  apply  to 
others.  We  are  not  bound  to  give  our  assent  either 
to  the  conception  of  God,  or  the  acts  or  words  of 
inspired  men,  if  our  conscience  revolts  at  them,  merely 
because  they  are  found  in  Scripture  or  read  in  churches. 
Nothing  has  ever  surpassed  the  Psalms  in  depth  and 
purity  of  devotion.  '  The  Lord  is  my  light  and  my 
salvation  ;  whom  then  shall  I  fear  ?  The  Lord  is  the 
strength  of  my  life,  of  whom  then  shall  I  be  afraid  ? ' 
Or  '  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want ;  yea, 
though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death  I  will  fear  no  evil ' ;  or  again,  '  Lord,  Thou  hast 
been  our  refuge  from  generation  to  generation. 
Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever 
the  earth  and  the  world  were  made.  Thou  art  God 
from  everlasting  and  world  without  end.'  But  be- 
cause I  find  in  these  and  the  like  simple  words  the 
highest  expression  of  Christian  faith,  I  am  not  there- 
fore justified  in  consenting  to  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist,  '  Blessed  shall  he  be  that  rewardeth  thee  as 
thou  hast  served  us,'  having  learned  another  lesson, 
'  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do 
good  to  them  that  hate  you ' ;  or  in  approving  the 
words  of  the  prophetess,  '  Curse  ye  Meroz,  saith  the 
angel  of  the  Lord,  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants 
thereof;  still  less  in  transferring  these  words  to  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord  in  other  ages,  or  to  the  religious 
party  which  is  opposed  to  me.     Nor  when  I  hear  the 


XVI.]      THE  PSALMS  IN  PUBLIC  WORSHIP    291 

narrative  of  Rizpah  the  daughter  of  Aiah,  who  after 
the  execution  of  Saul's  sons  took  sackcloth  and 
suffered  neither  the  birds  of  the  air  to  rest  on  them 
by  day,  or  the  beasts  of  the  field  by  night,  am  I  bound 
to  side  with  the  superstition  of  a  half- civilized  age 
against  the  natural  affection  of  a  Mother  in  Israel. 

These  difficulties  arise  partly  out  of  the  entwining 
of  the  old  with  the  new.  Churches  have  generally 
looked  backed  too  much  to  past  ages,  without  con- 
sidering that  they  must  also  satisfy  the  moral  require- 
ments of  their  own.  Hence  they  have  often  quarrelled 
not  only  with  science  and  history,  but  also  with  the 
conscience  of  mankind,  and,  instead  of  elevating  men 
to  a  divine  perfection,  they  have  fallen  short  of  that 
natural  sense  of  right  and  wrong  which  is  inherent  in 
the  human  heart.  But  without  pursuing  these  reflec- 
tions further,  or  considering  how  far  in  any  system 
the  difficulties  to  which  I  have  referred  might  be 
avoided,  I  will  now  return  to  the  main  subject,  and 
consider  how  far  Christian  worship  may  be  considered 
as  a  part  of  a  more  general  communion  which  God, 
whether  consciously  or  unconsciously  to  them,  holds 
with  all  creation. 

For  we  do  not  mean  to  think  better  of  ourselves 
because  we  attend  the  public  worship  of  God,  nor  to 
divide  men  into  good  and  bad  accordingly  as  they  go 
to  church  or  not.  There  are  many  in  the  present 
day  who  seem  to  be  religious,  and  yet  have  no  strong 
sense  of  right ;  and  there  are  many  who  have  a  strong 

U  2 


292  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvi. 

sense  of  right  and  yet  have  hardly  any  feeling  of 
religion.  We  who  meet  here  believe  that  we  have 
a  blessing  and  a  good ;  but  we  do  not  mean  to  con- 
demn them,  or  to  divide  ourselves  from  them  more 
than  we  are  necessarily  divided  from  them.  We  are 
not  certain  that  their  lives,  their  love  of  truth,  their 
disinterestedness,  their  desire  to  do  good  to  others, 
may  not  condemn  us  in  the  sight  of  God.  There  is 
no  man  who  is  leading  a  good  life  who  is  far  from 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  we  must  allow  for 
differences  of  character,  for  dislike  of  forms  and 
conventionalities,  for  reaction  against  early  education, 
and  not  demand  of  ever)'  one  that  they  should  con- 
form to  the  same  pattern.  He  who  has  the  love  of 
God  and  man  inherent  in  his  soul  has  the  root  of  the 
matter  in  him  ;  he  who  has  any  true  love  of  man  is 
not  far  from  tlie  love  of  God. 

And,  in  the  present  day  especially,  when  there  is 
so  much  opposition  of  opinion  among  us,  and  our 
best  feelings  so  easily  decline  into  party  spirit,  it  is 
important  that  we  should  also  fuse  our  differences  as 
much  as  possible,  merging  the  narrower  truth  or 
practice  in  the  wider,  and  not  insisting  upon  the 
means  if  the  end  be  attained.  Prayer  is  an  act,  per- 
formed at  set  times,  in  certain  forms  of  words  ;  but 
prayer  is  also  a  spirit,  which  need  not  be  expressed 
in  words,  the  spirit  of  contentment  and  resignation, 
of  active  goodness  and  benevolence,  of  modesty  and 
truthfulness.      It  is  the  spirit  which  lives  above  the 


XVI.]  WORSHIP  AND  LIFE  293 

world,  in  communion  with  a  higher  principle,  which 
is  always  working  a  work  ('  Laborare  est  orare '),  and 
always  going  on  in  the  search  after  a  higher  truth. 
It  is  the  spirit  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  which 
aspires  in  some  way  or  other  to  be  a  saviour  of  man- 
kind. He  who  has  this  spirit,  whether  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  whether  he  be  a  man  of  science  or 
a  minister  of  a  church,  is  a  Christian  in  heart  by 
whatever  term  he  may  be  called,  or  of  whatever  sect 
he  may  call  himself.  For  men  are  to  be  judged  not 
by  their  opinions,  but  by  their  lives  ;  not  by  what  they 
say  or  do,  but  by  what  they  are. 

And  therefore,  although  we  value  this  privilege  of 
Christian  worship,  we  acknowledge  that  it  is  to  be 
regarded  not  as  an  end  but  as  a  means.  The  end  is 
not  that,  but  a  change  of  nature  and  the  fulfilment  of 
the  commandments  of  God.  The  sense  of  duty,  the 
love  of  truth,  the  desire  to  do  good  to  all  men,  are 
not  inseparably  connected  with  the  habit  of  going  to 
church.  Yet  a  man  may  also  make  a  noble  use  of  the 
opportunities  of  public  worship.  They  may  deepen 
his  nature  and  character  ;  they  may  strengthen  and 
steady  him.  They  may  draw  him  towards  others  and 
prevent  his  becoming  Isolated.  They  may  enable  him 
to  resist  the  temptations  of  evil,  to  get  rid  of  levity 
and  egotism.  They  may  teach  him  to  know  himself, 
they  may  lead  him  to  think  seriously  of  life  ;  they  may 
enable  him  to  preserve  consistency,  when  other  men 
are  going  backwards  and  forwards  from  one  pole  of 


294 


COLLEGE  SERMONS 


religious  belief  to  the  other;  they  are  the  natural 
balance  of  the  amusements  and  excitements  of  youth, 
when  the  pulse  beats  quickly  and  the  heart  is  eager, 
and  the  sorrows  of  life  have  not  yet  been  felt.  There 
is  nothing  in  this  which  is  necessarily  formal  or  unreal 
or  constrained.  He  who  does  not  under  some  hasty 
misconception  lay  aside  the  habits  of  religion,  as 
many  in  the  present  day  seem  apt  to  do,  will  find  that 
they  are  in  no  way  inconsistent  with  the  love  of  truth. 
And  he  will  learn,  as  years  go  on,  that  truth  does  not 
consist  in  a  series  of  abstract  propositions,  or  in 
systems  of  philosophy  or  discoveries  about  facts  of 
science  or  history,  but  that  of  truth  too  there  is  a 
higher  and  more  living  image  in  the  perfection  of 
human  nature— the  Hkeness  of  God  in  Christ. 


XVII 

1  IF  OUR  HEART  CONDEMN  US,  GOD  IS  GREATER 
THAN  OUR  HEART,  AND  KNOWETH  ALL   THINGS. 

I  John  iii.  20. 

The  Christian  cannot  expect  to  live  always  in  the 
sunlight  of  the  divine  presence.  As  the  brightness 
of  summer  and  the  gloom  of  winter  pass  into  one 
another  by  gradual  stages,  as  the  heavenly  calm  and 
the  dark  storm  almost  in  the  same  instant  fill  the 
sky,  and  yet  the  lilies  of  the  field  grow,  and  the 
corn  ripens,  and  the  trees  put  forth  their  shoots,  not 
in  spite  of  these  alternations,  but  in  consequence 
of  them,  so  is  the  life  of  man  subject  not  only 
to  regular  periods  of  growth  and  decay,  but  also  to 
lesser  changes  from  day  to  day  and  from  hour  to 
hour.  For  human  spirits  are  subtle  and  delicate, 
easily  susceptible  of  influences  of  light  and  warmth, 
to  whom  the  world  is  an  atmosphere  in  which  they 
live  and  breathe,  rising  and  falling  and  hoping  and 
fearing,  as  the  wind  blovrs  from  one  quarter  rather 
than  another,  as  the  germs  quicken  or  the  dried 
leaves    drop    from   the    trees,   as    the   world    opens 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  probably  about  1868. 


296  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

upon  the  delighted  vision  or  fades  before  the  living 
eye,  as  friends  welcome  them  or  disown  them,  as 
God  smiles  upon  them  or  withdraws  His  face  from 
them. 

This  change  of  scene  is  not  only  observable  in 
common  life  and  among  ordinary  men,  but  quite  as 
much,  or  even  more  so,  among  extraordinary  men, 
who  appear  to  be  raised  above  the  weaknesses  of 
humanity.  For  they  suffer  and  struggle  more  than 
others ;  they  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  principalities  and  powers,  against  ancient  and 
widely  spread  errors,  against  the  prejudices  of  nations. 
Those  who  are  bent  upon  some  great  enterprise,  or 
who  place  before  their  minds  high  Ideals  of  truth  and 
life,  may  often  be  observed  to  express  distrust  of  their 
own  powers,  or  despair  of  mankind,  before  they  have 
nerved  themselves  for  the  conflict  on  which  they  are 
entering,  or  the  course  of  life  which  they  are  intending 
to  follow.  The  contrast  seems  too  great  between  what 
ought  to  be  and  what  is,  between  their  own  weakness 
and  the  vastness  of  the  work  which  has  been  com- 
mitted to  them ;  imagination  draws  the  picture,  and 
the  reality  is  so  cold ;  or  there  Is  a  struggle  between 
their  public  and  private  feelings;  and  sometimes  the 
shadows  of  the  past  envelope  and  darken  their  path 
as  they  are  pressing  forward  into  the  future.  The 
brave  man  may  stand  alone  against  the  world,  and 
yet  in  his  own  chamber  he  may  be  like  a  woman 
or  a  child,  sensitive  to  every  breath  of  feeling,  the 


XVII.]  WEAKNESS   OF  STRONG  MEN  297 

creature  of  circumstances  which  draw  him  different 
ways.  He  Is  not,  perhaps,  on  that  account  the  less 
fitted  to  carry  on  the  conflict;  for  he  who  would 
accomplish  his  work  like  a  man  must  also  feel  It  like 
a  man,  that  he  may  be  able  to  Impart  the  feeling  of  It 
to  others.  Reason  must  speak  with  the  voice  of 
feeling,  If  she  would  find  a  way  to  the  human  heart. 
Hence  In  those  men  who  have  made  the  greatest 
impression  on  their  fellow- creatures  there  has  been 
a  union  of  sternness  and  softness,  of  gentleness  and 
violence,  sometimes  leaving  the  mark  of  Inconsis- 
tency in  their  characters.  There  are  many  Instances 
both  in  history  and  Scripture  of  this  touch  of  human 
weakness  mingling  with  a  superhuman  power.  What 
greater  earnest  of  victory  can  a  general  have  than 
that  he  Is  beloved  of  his  soldiers,  who  for  his  sake 
willingly  face  death  ?  Must  there  not  be  real  tender- 
ness and  consideration  in  the  soul  of  one  who  thus 
commands  the  affection  of  others  ?  And  in  another 
kind  of  w^arfare  a  like  contrast  may  be  traced.  Do 
we  suppose  Luther  In  the  retirement  of  the  closet 
to  have  worn  the  same  unbending  figure  as  when  he, 
the  German  peasant,  stood  with  unabashed  front  before 
the  powers  of  the  Empire  and  the  Church,  and  was 
found  to  be  more  than  equal  to  them  ?  His  writings 
show  us  the  trials  of  spirit  which  he  had  suffered, 
in  what  alternations  of  light  and  darkness  his  life 
had  been  passed,  how  the  thoughts  of  many  hearts 
seem  to  pass  into  his  and  find  expression   In  him ; 


298  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

how  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  when  the  victory 
was  won,  the  retrospect  was  not  always  one  of 
triumph  or  exaltation,  but  rather  of  exhaustion  and 
depression.  So  St.  Paul  is  depicted  to  us,  in  his  own 
words,  as  having  the  sentence  of  death  in  himself, 
and  therefore  as  trusting  only  to  God  who  raised  the 
dead.  His  apostohc  career  was  a  perpetual  alter- 
nation of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  glor^^ng  and  humilia- 
tion, of  life  and  death.  So  far  is  he  from  being 
uniformly  governed  by  any  single  feeUng,  that  we 
seem  to  find  in  him  the  expression  of  all  our  feelings 
at  once.  And  at  last  despondency  is  the  prevailing 
note,  as  we  read  in  the  touching  words,  probably 
written  about  the  end  of  his  life  from  his  prison  at 
Rome,  '  Know  ye  not  that  all  they  of  Asia  are  fallen 
away  from  me  ? '  Lastly,  do  we  suppose  the  earthly 
life  of  our  Saviour  Christ  to  have  been  passed  in 
an  unbroken  calm  and  peace,  as  of  one  who  was 
unaffected  by  the  course  of  events,  or  who  regarded 
with  indifference  the  success  of  his  own  teaching,  or 
the  relations  in  which  other  men  stood  to  him  ?  That 
may  be  a  natural  supposition ;  but  the  picture  given 
in  the  narratives  of  the  evangelists  is  a  very  different 
one.  He  was  grieved,  as  we  read,  at  the  hardness 
of  their  hearts ;  he  wept  over  Jerusalem ;  he  was 
sorrowful  and  very  hea\y ;  he  was  in  an  agony ;  for 
an  instant  the  thought  had  passed  over  his  mind  that 
'  he  was  forsaken  of  God.'  Yet  a  little  while  before 
he  had  said,  '  The  hour  is  come  that  the  Son  of  man 


XVII.]        DIFFERENCES   OF  CHARACTER  299 

should  be  glorified,'  and  'I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  shall  draw  all  men  after  Me.' 

Human  beings  are  not  all  cast  in  the  same  mould ; 
nor  was  religion  designed  to  stamp  upon  them  one 
character.  One  man  is  always  himself;  another  varies 
from  day  to  day.  One  man  is  serious  and  grave  ; 
another  light  and  gay.  One  man  lives  in  the  present, 
another  is  always  recalling  the  past.  One  man  has 
religion  naturally  on  his  lips ;  another  man  is  silent 
about  religion,  of  which  the  witness  must  be  sought 
for  only  in  his  hfe.  One  man  is  social  and  cheerful ; 
another  shy  and  reserved.  One  man  is  moving  on 
the  surface  of  the  world ;  another  has  deeper  thoughts 
and  feelings.  One  man  is  full  of  imagination ;  the 
imagination  of  another  never  extends  beyond  his 
daily  Avork  or  business.  One  man  is  perfectly  alive 
to  the  differences  of  character  in  his  fellow-men ; 
another  man  can  never  acquire  this  sort  of  knowledge 
by  any  amount  of  experience.  One  man  is  always 
thinking  of  himself  and  his  faults  and  virtues  ;  another 
man  is  wholly  unconscious  of  himself  One  man  is 
always  under  the  influence  of  others ;  another  man  is 
incapable  of  being  influenced  by  them.  One  man 
may  have  great  trials  arising  from  his  own  physical 
temperament,  which  to  another  man  are  wholly  in- 
comprehensible. It  would  be  tedious  to  draw  out 
further  the  varieties  of  human  nature  as  they  appear 
to  us  without  including  the  greater  differences  of 
good  and  evil.     If  we  add  differences  of  age  and  sex. 


300  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

which  each  one  can  easily  supply  for  himself,  the 
diversity  becomes  endless.  No  two  leaves  in  the 
forest,  when  examined  through  a  microscope,  are 
precisely  the  same ;  no  two  human  beings,  when  we 
come  to  analyze  them,  are  exactly  alike. 

All  these  may  be  the  true  servants  of  God  ;  all  of 
them  may  equally  be  the  true  friends  of  man.  Yet 
out  of  these  varieties  of  human  character,  as  well  as 
for  the  variations  of  the  same  character  at  different 
times,  great  difficulties  often  arise.  For  one  man 
condemns  another  because  he  is  not  like  himself, 
forgetting  that  '  God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways,' 
and  In  many  lives  of  men.  Another  man  condemns 
himself  because  he  is  not  like  another ;  he  wants  to 
have  been  made  different  from  what  he  Is,  not  con- 
sidering that  through  this  human  character,  through 
this  physical  temperament,  he  was  intended  to  work 
out  his  life,  and  to  be  not  another  but  himself 
Another  person  is  sad  because  he  cannot  control  his 
thoughts ;  he  seems  to  pass  too  soon  from  grave  to 
gay,  from  serious  to  profane.  Another  person  finds 
the  memory  of  the  past  pressing  heavily  on  him ; 
he  is  always  grieving  over  some  unfulfilled  duty ; 
perhaps  some  sin  of  his  youth  returns  upon  him, 
or  he  can  no  longer  see  little  things  in  their  true 
proportions.  Most  of  us  in  the  course  of  life  must 
have  met  with  persons  in  whom  trials  of  this  de- 
scription have  become  a  sort  of  passion  or  fixed  idea 
which  refuses  any  more  to  hear  the  voice  of  reason. 


XVII.]     OUR  JUDGMENTS   OF  OURSELVES       301 

Now  to  all  such  the  text  seems  to  offer  a  healing 
word,  which  is  as  applicable  to  us  as  to  the  first 
Christians :  '  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us,  God 
is  greater  than  our  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things.' 
That  is  to  say,  'You  do  not  understand  your  own 
trials,  your  own  difficulties,  your  own  characters,  but 
the  God  who  made  you  understands  them  and  you. 
The  world  which  you  inhabit  may  be  to  you  a  maze 
of  perplexity  :  you  may  be  living  alone  in  a  crowd  ; 
you  may  feel  yourself  the  last  person  in  the  world 
fitted  to  endure  the  trials  which  have  come  upon 
you ;  you  may  be  reproaching  and  condemning 
yourself  for  this  or  that  error  or  sin :  but  do  not 
trust  your  own  judgment,  which  has  so  often  deceived 
and  betrayed  you  ;  trust  wholly  to  the  judgment  of 
God,  whose  all-seeing  eye  takes  in  you  and  all  your 
circumstances  at  a  glance,  who  looks  onward  not 
only  to  the  appointed  consequences  of  your  actions 
in  this  world,  which  seem  to  follow  by  a  sort  of 
necessary  law,  but  to  the  remedies  and  compensa- 
tions of  them  in  another.'  There  is  a  peace  if  our 
heart  condemn  us  not ;  but  there  may  also  be  a  peace, 
even  if  our  heart  condemn  us,  in  the  thought  of 
a  higher  judgment  at  which  many  of  our  judgments 
on  ourselves  will  be  reversed. 

There  are  two  judgments  besides  the  judgment 
of  conscience  at  w^hich  we  shall  do  well  to  arraign 
ourselves  from  time  to  time :  the  opinion  of  mankind, 
and   the  judgment   of  God.     A   few  words   on  the 


302  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

first  of  these  may  be  a  fitting  illustration  of  the 
second ;  for,  although  imperfect,  the  opinion  of 
mankind  is  by  no  means  a  bad  rule  of  life  when 
confined  to  proper  subjects.  The  effort  to  see  our- 
selves as  others  see  us  is  one  of  the  best  forms  of 
self- discipline.  Does  not  the  world  make  remarks 
about  us,  accuse  us  of  weakness  and  imprudence,  of 
vanity  or  forwardness,  or  sentimentalism  ?  We  shall 
do  well  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  world,  to  let 
the  opinions  of  our  fellow-creatures  tell  upon  us, 
and  we  should  catch  the  faint  accents  which  hardly 
reach  our  own  ears :  we  should  sometimes  listen 
to  the  laugh  of  the  world,  which  may  be  heard 
in  a  figure  pursuing  us  as  we  go  out  of  a  room. 
Even  the  silence  of  other  men,  which  greets  our 
egotism  or  admiration  of  ourselves,  may  often  convey 
an  instructive  lesson.  Again,  does  the  voice  of 
mankind  charge  us  with  hypocrisy,  or  ridicule  our 
unreality  or  affectation  of  religion — suggest  that  we 
are  making  the  best  of  both  worlds  (perhaps  un- 
consciously to  ourselves)  ?  That  again  is  a  judgment 
generally  to  be  respected,  which  should  lead  us  to 
try  ourselves  and  see  whether  this  hard  school- 
master may  not  be  teaching  us  a  true  lesson.  And 
sometimes  the  world,  like  ourselves,  deceived  by 
appearances,  may  give  us  credit  for  honesty,  for 
purity  of  character,  for  disinterestedness,  to  which 
in  our  own  heart  and  conscience  we  know  that  we 
have  no  claim.    So  sometimes  by  contrast  the  opinion 


XVII.]     THE   WORLD'S  JUDGMENT  OF  US        303 

of  mankind  acts  upon  us,  and  is  generally  a  valuable 
guide,  though  quicker  in  discerning  our  actions  than 
our  motives,  and  supplying  a  rule  of  prudence  rather 
than  of  true  simplicity  or  Christian  perfection.  It 
has  the  advantage  of  being  always  present  with  us ; 
and  the  good  man  who  has  stood  the  test  of  its 
ridicule  will  commonly  receive  from  it,  either  during 
life  or  after  death,  a  fair  meed  of  approbation. 

But  the  judgment  of  God  is  of  another  and  a 
higher  kind:  He  regards  us  not  in  this  outward 
and  superficial  manner,  but  searches  into  our  inmost 
soul ;  and  some  of  the  judgments  of  this  world  will 
be  confirmed  by  Him,  and  many  of  them  w411  be 
reversed.  For  the  outward  act  by  which  men  chiefly 
judge  of  one  another  is  sometimes  the  index  of  the 
inward  motive,  sometimes  at  variance  with  it.  But 
the  divine  judgment  is  the  judgment  of  truth,  which 
can  never  err  or  be  deceived  either  about  the  main 
direction  of  our  lives  or  about  the  least  particulars 
of  them.  It  is  more  searching  than  the  judgment, 
of  our  fellow-creatures,  but  it  is  also  more  merciful ; 
for  it  is  the  judgment  of  love.  The  parent  under- 
stands the  character  of  his  child,  yet  he  cannot  desert 
or  forsake  him.  He  knows  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  and  is  not  bound  by  any  legal  rules 
or  fictions  or  conventions  necessary  perhaps  for  the 
good  of  society.  The  judge  of  man  is  also  the 
friend  of  man,  with  whom  there  need  be  no  con- 
cealment.    If  we  could  imagine  some  one  who  was 


304  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

absolutely  wise  and  entirely  loved  us,  should  we 
desire  anything  but  that  he  should  absolutely  know 
us  ?  False  shame  at  the  recital  of  our  faults  would 
disappear  In  our  confidence  In  his  goodness.  Such 
blessed  friendship  and  counsel  there  may  sometimes 
be  on  earth,  there  may  always  be  with  our  '  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.' 

But  the  text  speaks  of  the  judgment  of  God,  not 
only  as  superseding  the  judgment  of  the  world,  but 
even  as  reversing  our  own  judgment  of  ourselves 
in  certain  cases.  And  here  a  person  may  say,  '  But 
how  am  I  to  know  the  judgment  of  God  except 
through  my  own  conscience  ?  and  If  I  set  aside  con- 
science, where  shall  I  find  another  witness  of  the 
divine  law?  Can  I  be  myself  and  not  myself  at 
the  same  time?'  And  yet  something  of  this  kind 
seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  text.  Notwith- 
standing this  logical  paradox,  I  will  now  endeavour 
to  show  that  these  comfortable  words  of  the  writer 
of  this  epistle  are  not  devoid  of  meaning. 

He  Is  speaking  of  those  who  love  God,  who  draw 
near  to  the  light,  who  are  truly  desirous  of  following 
the  example  of  Christ.  And  we  may  be  allowed  to 
expand  and  translate  his  words  a  little,  so  as  to 
comprehend  all  those  who  acknowledge  a  principle 
of  duty  and  a  law  of  right,  w^ho  are  willing  to  sacri- 
fice themselves  for  others  or  to  bear  a  cross  for  the 
sake  of  the  truth.  Nevertheless,  he  who  answers  to 
either   of  these   descriptions   may   find    himself   the 


XVII.]  GOD'S  JUDGMENT  OF  US  305 

victim  of  sorrow  and  sadness ;  he  may  be  full  of 
doubts  and  scruples,  waging  an  unequal  warfare 
against  his  own  passions  ;  the  creature  of  circum- 
stances which  are  too  much  for  him.  He  may  be 
exactinof  of  himself  duties  which  in  his  calmer 
moments  he  knows  to  be  beyond  his  strength ;  or 
he  may  be  fancying  duties  which  God  does  not 
require  of  him ;  or  he  may  be  weary  of  the  mono- 
tony and  unprofitableness  of  life,  seeking  vainly  for 
something  better  and  not  knowing  how  to  attain  it. 
He  cannot  see  himself  as  he  truly  is,  or  as  he  will 
appear  to  himself  when  a  few  more  years  have 
passed  over  his  head,  and  his  natural  frame  of  mind 
has  returned  to  him.  Or  he  may  have  peculiar 
difficulties  of  character  in  himself  or  in  others  which 
disturb  the  harmony  of  his  life,  and  lead  him  to  pass 
a  mistaken  judgment  on  his  own  actions.  Some 
element  of  necessity  may  enter  into  his  being  or 
constitution.  He  may  be  troubled  with  moods  of 
mind  and  gloomy  thoughts  which  cannot  at  once 
be  dispelled.  Or,  to  take  one  other  instance,  the 
natural  growth  of  religious  opinions  may  have  an 
undue  effect  upon  him ;  his  heart  may  contradict 
his  head;  at  times  the  very  substance  of  his  faith 
may  be  taken  from  him.  And  yet  he  knows  that 
he  would  not  willingly  disobey  the  will  of  God  or 
forsake  the  path  of  duty;  he  is  not  less  but  more 
particular  in  his  practice  than  formerly;  but  he  has 
no  comfort  or  certainty  in  religion. 

X 


3o6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvii. 

These  are  the  cases  in  which  the  voice  of  God  is 
heard  within  whispering-  peace  and  inviting  the  soul 
to  pass  from  herself  to  Him  ;  from  her  own  narrow 
fancies  and  scruples  to  His  comprehensive  love  of  all 
His  creatures  ;  from  her  own  blurred  and  confused 
sight  to  His  heavenly  clearness ;  from  her  own  way- 
ward and  uncertain  impulses  to  His  perfect  calm.  He 
cannot  be  served  by  scruples  of  conscience.  He  says 
to  us,  'My  son,  give  Me  thy  heart';  when  the  heart 
has  been  g"iven,  He  is  not  over-exacting  about  this  or 
that  particular.  St.  Paul  goes  so  far  even  as  to  say 
that  such  scruples  have  the  nature  of  sin.  He  cannot 
be  served  by  fear,  for  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear; 
His  justice  is  not  terrifying  to  us — on  that  rather  we 
repose,  because  He  knows  all  things.  He  cannot  be 
served  by  doubts  ;  there  are  certainties  beyond  them ; 
and  although  it  doth  not  yet  appear  w^hat  we  shall  be, 
we  know  that  He  who  has  watched  over  us  in  life  will 
not  be  w^anting  to  us  at  the  gates  of  death.  Moods 
of  mind  are  not  the  true  service  of  God ;  the  dark 
condemnation  of  ourselves  cannot  make  us  worse  in 
His  sight  than  we  really  are,  or  better ;  the  shadows 
of  His  wrath  are  not  passing  over  us  because  our 
minds  are  clouded.  He  who  made  us  knows  that 
these  things  may  not  be  the  true  movements  of  our 
being,  but  the  accidents  of  our  physical  constitution. 
Wounded  affections,  conflicts  with  those  whom  we 
love,  may  disorder  our  lives  ;  then  again  He  is  heard 
promising  to  be  a  father  to  us  and  a  mother  too,  who 


XVII.]    GOD'S  REPLY  TO   OUR    WEAKNESS      307 

gives  His  beloved  rest.  He  to  whom  we  say,  '  I  am 
weak  and  unequal  to  these  trials,' says  to  us  in  return, 
'  My  strength  is  perfected  in  weakness.'  He  to  whom 
the  spirit  of  man  offers  up  the  cry,  '  Who  is  he,  Lord, 
that  I  should  believe  in  him  ? '  or,  '  Lord,  I  believe ; 
help  thou  mine  unbelief,'  sends  for  answer,  '  Blessed 
are  they  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed.' 

Thus  at  every  turn  of  life  we  may  go  out  of  our- 
selves to  rest  in  God.  He  is  the  true  centre  of  all 
human  things,  in  whom  all  the  varieties  of  human 
character  meet  and  are  satisfied,  in  whom  only  the 
greater  passions  of  mankind,  seeking  in  vain  for 
something  which  they  know  not,  can  safely  find  their 
object ;  from  whom,  too,  men's  passing  emotions 
receive  their  true  law — all  of  them  to  be  diffused  again 
over  our  fellow-men,  like  rain  falling  upon  the  earth. 
For  whatever  we  give  to  God  He  gives  back  again  to 
us  in  another  form,  refined,  hallowed,  strengthened. 
The  sorrow  which  would  have  been  fruitless  if  suffered 
to  run  wild,  when  consecrated  to  Him  may  teach  us 
truths  of  which  we  had  not  previously  thought, 
penetrating  and  sanctifying  our  lives.  The  trials  of 
mind  through  which  we  pass  may  develop  powers 
and  interests  in  us  of  which  we  never  dreamed ; 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  order  of  the  world,  which 
He  has  appointed  that  they  may  discipline  and 
strengthen  us. 

The  great  crises  of  life  especially  may  become  the 
links  which  bind  us  to  something  beyond  this  world. 

X  2 


3o8  COLLEGE  SERMONS 

The  thought  of  God  and  of  eternity  is  the  resting- 
place  in  which  we  are  left  alone  when  our  health 
fails,  when  our  life  draws  to  a  close.  Clouds  which 
at  times  overshadow  our  path  extend  but  a  Httle  way 
from  the  earth  which  is  our  habitation  ;  the  love  and 
light  which  are  beyond  are  without  limit. 


XVIII 

^HE    WENT  ABOUT  DOING    GOOD. 

Acts  x.  38. 

It  is  sometimes  thought  that  the  Christian  religion 
is  surrounded  by  greater  difficulties  than  formerly. 
There  are  those  who  would  bid  us  watch  the  gradual 
disappearance  of  it :  who  ask  how  much  will  remain 
a  hundred  years  hence,  when  the  Positive  age  has 
succeeded  to  the  Metaphysical  as  the  Metaphysical  is 
supposed  to  have  already  taken  the  place  of  the 
teaching  of  Christ.  Such  wide  generahzations  have 
very  little  truth  in  them,  but  they  often  exercise 
a  great  influence  over  the  minds  of  men.  There  are 
others  again  who  have  written  accounts  of  their  own 
lives  and  have  narrated  the  phases  of  their  faith ;  how, 
beginning  with  the  belief  in  a  verbal  inspiration,  they 
have  dropped  one  article  of  their  creed  after  another 
until  only  a  few  fundamental  truths  remained  to 
them:  or  they  may  have  gone  even  further.  And 
yet  all  the  time  their  lives  have  been  in  the  right ; 
they  have  been  making  one  long  effort  to  serv^e  God 
and  the  truth.  Such  a  book  has  been  written  by 
a  venerable  person,  formerly  a  fellow  of  this  College, 

^  Preached  at  Balliol,  October,  1888. 


3IO  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviir. 

who  began  life  as  an  evangelical  Christian,  and 
ended  a  freethinker ;  and  yet  in  both  stages  of  his 
belief  the  true  disciple  of  Christ  may  equally  be 
discerned.  For  there  is  no  one  who  is  a  true  lover 
of  man  who  is  not  also  beloved  of  God.  The  author 
of  T/ze  Phases  of  Faith  was  one  who  might  be 
described  as  accidentally  a  freethinker,  but  in  reality 
a  follower  of  Christ ;  or,  in  the  deeper  and  also  more 
familiar  language  of  the  Gospel,  as  one  '  who  was 
not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  The  first 
impression  given  by  the  book  is.  How  good  and 
simple  this  man  was !  and  yet  how  easily  affected  by 
all  the  influences  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived !  And 
there  have  been  others  like  him  both  in  this  and 
the  last  generation — freethinkers  who  have  in  their 
nature  the  humility  and  self-devotion  of  a  Catholic 
saint — Catholics  who  could  never  lose  the  sincere 
love  of  every  form  of  truth.  It  is  a  curious  reflection 
also  that  such  persons  may  sometimes  have  crossed 
each  other  in  the  path  of  life,  and  by  some  reaction 
of  nature  have  either  of  them  ended  where  the  other 
began. 

These  are  some  of  the  paradoxes  of  an  age  of 
transition,  such  as  the  last  half  century,  which  has  had 
such  curious  effects  on  the  relation  of  things  secular 
and  spiritual,  on  the  characters  and  opinions  of  men. 
The  next  generation  too  will  be  put  upon  its  trial ; 
but  the  trial  will  be  of  a  different  kind.  Many 
questions  which  greatly  affected  us  will  to  them  be 


XVIII.]  PHASES   OF  FAITH  311 

familiar  or  obsolete.  They  will  no  longer  be  inquir- 
ing into  the  origin  or  date  of  the  books  of  Scripture, 
or  discussing  the  evidence  of  miracles,  or  seeking 
to  reconcile  science  and  religion  or  morality  and 
theology.  Critical  and  historical  questions  will  have 
been  settled  with  that  degree  of  relative  certainty 
which  is  attainable  in  such  subjects.  The  relation  of 
religion  to  science  will  have  solved  itself,  and  will  be 
no  longer  a  matter  of  dispute.  An  historical  age 
will  have  succeeded  to  a  controversial  one.  Religious 
life  will  no  longer  be  liable  to  be  upset  by  small 
earthquakes,  but  will  have  a  wider  and  deeper  founda- 
tion. Good  men  of  all  parties  will  more  and  more  see 
that  so  far  as  they  had  the  spirit  of  God  at  all,  they 
meant  the  same  thing  far  more  than  they  supposed. 
They  will  see  that  other  religions  and  other  teachers 
of  religion  had  in  them  also  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  and 
that  these  anticipations  of  the  truth,  instead  of  impair- 
ing the  force  of  Christianity,  strengthen  and  extend  it ; 
as  Christ  also  Himself  seems  to  intimate  when  He 
says  '  Many  shall  come  from  the  East  and  from  the 
West' ;  or  again,  '  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are 
not  of  this  fold.'  They  will  recognize  that  what  has 
been  sometimes  regarded  as  the  triumph  of  antichrist 
is  only  the  natural  consequence  of  criticism  and 
science,  which,  like  the  rising  of  the  tide,  can  by  no 
human  efforts  be  driven  back. 

The  difficulties  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  are 
not  exactly  made  by  us,  but  they  are  made  by  the 


312  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

history  of  the  world  ;  and  we  perhaps  are  in  a  measure 
to  blame  for  not  keeping-  our  minds  above  them,  for 
repining-  against  the  age  in  which  we  live,  for  not 
doing  our  duty  in  that  state  of  life  to  which  it  has 
pleased  God  to  call  us.  It  is  in  religion  as  it  is  in 
politics :  we  complain  of  latitudinarianism  or  of  the 
spread  of  democracy,  but  there  is  no  one  w^ho  would 
like  to  return  to  the  narrownesses  or  the  oppression 
or  the  intolerance  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  ago. 
And  in  either  case  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that 
the  good  will  increase  and  the  evil  diminish  as  time 
goes  on  ;  we  shall  grow  more  accustomed  to  the  new 
order  of  things,  and  shall  begin  to  understand  better 
the  minds  and  wants  of  our  fellow-men.  Whenever 
the  Christian  life  becomes  a  reality,  disputes  about 
words  will  be  more  transparent :  many  of  the  envious 
barriers  which  divide  men  will  be  removed,  and  they 
will  know  God  more  as  He  is.  They  will  pass  out  of 
the  valleys  on  to  the  hills,  and  a  wider  prospect  will 
open  to  them.  So,  though  with  hesitation,  for  we 
can  proceed  only  one  step  at  a  time  in  such  specula- 
tions, we  may  venture  to  forecast  some  of  the  changes 
which  will  pass  over  the  religious  world,  probably 
during  the  life -time  of  the  majority  of  those  present 
here  to-day.  They  may,  if  they  will  begin  their 
career  not  with  vexed  problems,  but  with  the  imita- 
tion of  Christ. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  I  shall  speak  to  you  no 
more  of  the  difficulties  of  religion,  but  of  the  sim- 


XVIII.]       THE  SIMPLICITY  OF  RELIGION  313 

pliclty  of  it.  The  witness  to  it  in  Scripture,  in 
history,  in  the  human  heart,  is  one  and  the  same. 
Listen  to  the  Old  Testament :  '  He  hath  shown  thee, 
O  man,  what  He  requireth  of  thee :  to  do  justice,  to 
love  mercy,  to  walk  humbly  with  God.'  Where  has 
the  spirit  of  true  religion  ever  been  more  truly 
described  ?  Or  take  the  words  which  are  familiar  to 
us,  '  When  the  wicked  man  turneth  away  from  his 
wickedness,'  in  which  verse,  as  we  gather  from  the 
context,  is  intimated  the  great  truth  that  the  sins  of 
the  fathers  shall  not  be  visited  upon  the  children. 
Or  again :  '  A  highway  shall  there  be,  and  a  way, 
and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  holiness ;  the 
unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it,  but  the  wayfaring 
man  shall  not  err  in  it.'  Or  again :  T  will  have  mercy, 
and  not  sacrifice,'  which  may  be  called  the  central 
truth  of  Hebrew  prophesy ;  '  Go  ye  too,  and  learn 
what  that  means.'  Let  me  recall  by  a  word  or  two 
similar  passages  in  the  New  Testament.  '  Blessed  are 
the  peacemakers';  'Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart'; 
'  Except  a  man  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little 
child ' ;  '  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow ' ;  '  Foras- 
much as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least  of  these ' ;  '  Consider 
the  lilies  of  the  field' ;  '  His  father  went  out  to  meet 
him ' ;  '  In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry^  nor 
are  given  in  marriage ' ;  '  The  sabbath  was  made  for 
man';  'I  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil.'  Where, 
if  not  in  these  and  the  like  words,  can  we  ever  expect 
to  hear  the  voice  of  God  speaking  to  us  ?    '  Lord,  to 


314  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life.'  Is  there  any  difficulty  in  understanding  them  ? 
or  does  the  heart  and  conscience  of  any  one  dis- 
approve of  them  ?  Does  not  Greek  philosophy,  or 
rather  all  philosophy  and  all  religion  from  time  to 
time  bear  witness  to  them  ?  There  is  no  rational 
being,  if  he  be  allowed  to  express  the  same  thoughts 
in  his  own  phraseology,  who  will  not  assent  to  them. 
There  is  no  reason  why  at  any  moment  of  our  lives 
we  should  be  uncertain  what  is  the  rule  of  duty  or 
the  will  of  God.  Nor  are  we  really  uncertain  ;  what- 
ever may  be  the  words  which  we  employ,  we  all  know 
quite  well  that  truth  is  better  than  falsehood,  purity 
than  impurity,  to  love  better  than  to  hate,  to  please 
God  better  than  to  gain  worldly  reputation.  The 
truth  for  which  we  are  seeking  is  not  a  labyrinth 
without  a  clue,  nor  yet  a  mist  in  which  we  cannot 
see  where  we  are  going,  but  plain  as  the  sun  at  mid- 
day, having  the  body  of  heaven  in  its  clearness.  It 
is  not  a  mystery,  but  a  truism  which  we  are  apt  to 
forget  and  to  deem  commonplace,  and  because  it  is 
so  little  realized  in  our  lives.  It  is  the  light  which 
lighteth  every  man,  which  shines  daily  and  hourly, 
and  accompanies  us  in  all  our  ways,  and  is  there- 
fore scarcely  remarked  by  us.  And  we  see  the  same 
light  under  many  aspects,  as  it  mingles  with  the 
shadows  and  clouds  of  earth  or  is  obscured  by  them  ; 
or  as  it  shines  in  its  own  unclouded  beauty,  far  away 
from  us  in  the  blue  sky. 


XVIII.]  THE  REAL  DIFFICULTY  IS  MORAL      315 

The  real  difficulty  is  not  here,  but  we  transfer  to 
the  reason  what  is  really  the  infirmity  of  the  will. 
All  men  to  some  extent,  under  some  name  or  other, 
know  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  but  they  do  not 
make  them  the  laws  of  their  own  life.  It  is  not  the 
perplexities  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  but  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh,  the  desire  of  approbation,  the  pride 
of  Hfe,  childishness,  vanity,  egotism,  self-love,  which 
are  the  real  hindrances  to  our  progress  in  the 
Christian  life.  Most  of  us  have  been  conscious  of 
struggles  within  us,  in  which  the  lower  has  tried  to 
get  the  better  of  the  higher  self.  The  conscience  of 
some  has  gone  to  sleep,  but  may  remember  such 
struggles  in  the  past.  There  are  many  voices  sound- 
ing in  the  ears  of  men  everyAvhere,  but  they  do  not 
hear  with  their  ears  or  understand  with  their  minds 
the  words  which  now  as  of  old  Christ  is  speaking  to 
them.  They  do  not  consider  the  one  thing  needful — 
how  they  may  become  better. 

The  simplicity  of  religion  may  be  illustrated  in 
another  way,  from  the  Hfe  and  example  of  Christ. 
No  one  can  suppose  that  our  Lord,  as  He  is  pictured 
to  us  in  the  Gospels,  filled  men's  minds  with  per- 
plexity, or  uttered  dark  sayings,  or  refined  upon 
distinctions  of  doctrine,  or  insisted  upon  the  belief 
in  the  history  of  the  Jews  as  the  condition  of  man's 
acceptance  with  God.  His  hard  sayings  were  of 
another  sort :  '  Go,  sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give 
to  the  poor';    and  'Except  a  man  be  born  again. 


3i6  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xvin. 

he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.'  The  love  of 
God,  the  love  of  man,  the  preference  of  the  spirit 
to  the  letter,  the  appeal  from  the  worse  to  the  better 
mind,  from  what  men  habitually  practise  to  what  they 
all  know,  the  return  to  the  first  principles  of  religion, 
the  denunciation  of  hypocrisy  in  every  form,  the 
conviction  of  sin  and  the  need  of  forgiveness — ■ 
these  are  the  truths,  not  new  but  old,  which  Christ 
is  always  seeking  to  implant  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
His  life,  which  was  their  example,  which  He  passed 
in  talking  with  them  and  in  sympathy  with  their 
sufferings  and  sins — this  life  might  be  summed  up 
in  a  single  phrase,  '  He  went  about  doing  good.' 
And  the  image  of  one  who  went  about  doing  good 
has  been  preserved  to  us  not  only  in  the  record 
of  Scripture,  but  in  the  examples  of  those  who 
have  followed  in  His  footsteps  from  that  day  till 
now. 

'  He  went  about  doing  good.'  So  we  might  say 
in  our  own  age  of  two  or  three  who  have  been  per- 
sonally known  to  us,  '  He  or  she  went  about  doing 
good.'  They  are  the  living  witnesses  to  us  of  His 
work.  If  we  observ^e  them  we  shall  see  that  they 
did  good  because  they  were  good — because  they  lived 
for  others  and  not  for  themselves,  because  they  had 
a  higher  standard  of  truth  and  therefore  men  could 
trust  them,  because  their  love  was  deeper  and  there- 
fore they  drew  others  after  them.  These  are  they 
of  whom  we  read   in   Scripture  that  they  bear  the 


XVIII.]     GOOD  LIVES    WE  HAVE  KNOWN         317 

image  of  Christ  until  His  coming  again,  and  of  a 
few  of  them  that  they  have  borne  the  image  of  His 
sufferings,  and  to  us  they  are  the  best  interpreters 
of  his  Hfe.  They  too  have  a  hidden  strength  which 
is  derived  from  communion  with  the  Unseen ;  they 
pass  their  lives  in  the  service  of  God,  and  yet  only 
desire  to  be  thought  unprofitable  servants.  The 
honours  or  praises  which  men  sometimes  shower 
upon  them  are  not  much  to  their  taste.  Their  only 
joy  is  to  do  the  will  of  God  and  to  relieve  the  wants 
of  their  brethren.  Their  only  or  greatest  sorrow  is 
to  think  of  the  things  which,  from  inadvertence  or 
necessity,  they  have  been  compelled  to  leave  undone. 
Their  way  of  life  has  been  simple ;  they  have  not 
had  much  to  do  with  the  world ;  they  have  not  had 
time  to  accumulate  stores  of  learning.  Sometimes 
they  have  seen  with  superhuman  clearness  one  or 
two  truths  of  which  the  world  w^as  especially  in 
need.  They  may  have  been  scarcely  known,  or  not 
known  until  after  their  death ;  they  may  have  had 
their  trials  too — failing  health,  declining  years,  the 
ingratitude  of  men — but  they  have  endured  as  seeing 
Him  w^ho  is  invisible. 

Divided  as  we  are  by  so  many  centuries  from  the 
age  in  which  Christ  lived,  I  think  that  the  contempla- 
tion of  such  lives  is  the  best  preparation  which  we 
can  make  for  the  study  of  the  life  of  Christ  Himself. 
As  they  are,  so  was  He  in  this  world.  The  record 
of  the  Gospels  is  fragmentary — we  cannot   exactly 


3i8  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

reduce  it  to  a  precise  order ;  it  is  only  by  an  effort 
that  we  reproduce  the  customs  and  opinions  of  the 
Jewish  world  at  the  Christian  era.  Neither  is  it  the 
precise  words  of  Christ  that  we  desire  to  recover 
so  much  as  His  spirit  and  character;  nor  can  we 
attach  any  weight  to  the  remark  of  a  great  popular 
writer  that  the  geography  of  Palestine,  or  we  may 
add  the  history  and  antiquities  of  Palestine,  is  as 
good  as  the  addition  of  a  fifth  Gospel  to  the  other 
four.  But  we  want  to  know  what  Christ  was  like, 
that  we  too,  though  at  a  distance,  may  follow  Him, 

And  of  Christ  we  may  say  He  went  about  doing 
good,  because  He  was  good,  because  He  was  love, 
because  He  was  truth,  because  He  knew  human  nature, 
because  He  judged  not  as  man  judgeth.  He  lived  in 
communion  with  God,  and  therefore  He  '  took  of  the 
things  of  God  and  showed  them  to  men.'  As  God 
was  His  father,  so  He  was  like  a  father  or  elder 
brother  to  all  other  men.  He  seems  to  have  a 
heart  capable  of  containing  the  sins  and  sorrows 
of  all  men.  The  stranger  from  Syrophenicia  is  no 
stranger  to  Him,  at  once  they  are  united  in  the 
bonds  of  common  humanity.  Living  above  the 
world,  He  does  not  seek  to  live  away  from  It ;  He 
does  not  hide  Himself  in  a  cell  or  retire  into  a  desert, 
but  wanders  about,  conversing  with  His  fellow- men, 
and  is  present  on  the  ordinary  occasions  of  life. 
He  and  His  Httle  band  of  followers  went  about 
in  the  villages  and  entered  into  the  houses,  eating 


XVIII.]  HOW  CHRIST  LIVED  319 

such  things  as  were  set  before  them  after  the  manner 
of  the  East.  They  were  present  at  the  marriage 
feast  of  Cana ;  they  sat  down  to  meat  in  the  house 
of  Levi  the  publican ;  they  plucked  the  ears  of  corn 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  It  was  not  the  time  for  them 
to  fast  when  the  bridegroom  was  with  them.  On 
one  long-remembered  occasion  the  food  was  broiled 
fish  and  an  honey-comb.  They  listened  to  Christ 
preaching  on  a  mountain,  in  the  plain,  out  of  a  boat, 
in  the  synagogue.  The  figures  of  speech  which  He 
used  were  derived  from  their  daily  occupations,  from 
the  country  in  which  they  lived,  from  the  lake  in 
which  they  caught  fish,  from  the  vineyards  which 
clothed  the  sides  of  the  hills.  Such  was  their  manner 
of  life  while  He  remained  with  them  in  Galilee.  Once 
there  had  been  an  Insurrection  In  that  region,  and 
the  blood  of  the  Insurgents  had  been  mingled  with 
their  sacrifices.  But  now  the  land  had  rest — the 
w^aters  of  the  lake  were  clear  and  still.  In  that 
narrow  district  they  were  not  likely  to  have  heard 
of  the  wars  of  the  Romans,  of  Tiberius  and  his 
favourites.  They  had  no  outlook  into  history.  The 
life  of  Christ  was  a  private  life  which  stood  in  no 
relation  to  the  events  of  the  time. 

But  leaving  the  externals  of  the  scene,  which  are 
only  a  pleasant  picture,  let  us  return  once  more  to 
think  of  Christ  as  He  was  In  Himself,  meditating 
on  the  sins  and  sufferings  of  men,  and  seeking  to 
reconcile  them   with  His  Father  and  their  Father, 


320  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

with  His  God  and  their  God.  The  vSon  of  man 
came  to  save  them  that  were  lost.  He  saw  them 
wandering  out  of  the  way,  in  vain  traditions  invented 
by  teachers  of  the  law,  in  casuistical  refinements  which 
undermined  the  first  principles  of  morahty.  The 
rulers  of  the  people  had  lost  the  sense  of  right  in  an 
organized  hypocrisy,  and  seem  to  have  been  divided 
between  subservience  to  the  Roman  governors  and 
detestation  of  them.  And  Christ  sought  to  lead 
them  out  of  this  troublesome  world  into  a  kingdom 
of  peace  which  was  within  them ;  to  give  them  free- 
dom too,  but  a  freedom  not  like  that  for  which  the 
Galileans  wildly  fought ;  to  implant  in  them  the  true 
law,  greater  than  that  of  Moses,  which  controlled  not 
only  men's  outward  actions,  but  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  their  hearts.  There  had  been  teachers 
in  the  old  times  who  had  proclaimed  the  word  of 
God  to  an  unbelieving  people— the  Jewish  prophets ; 
and  Christ  sought  to  revive  the  memory  of  their 
words  in  the  minds  of  men,  disengaging  them  from 
their  local  or  temporal  meaning,  and  making  them 
the  vehicles  of  lessons  never  to  pass  away.  The 
prophets  too  had  spoken  of  a  servant  of  God  who 
'  should  not  strive  nor  cry,  neither  should  his  voice 
be  heard  in  the  streets' — 'a  bruised  reed  he  shall 
not  break,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax  until  he 
hath  brought  forth  judgment  unto  victory;  and  in 
his  name  shall  the  Gentiles  trust.'  Such  was  the 
still   small   voice,  first   heard   in  Judea,  with  which 


XVIII.]  CHRISrS   UNWORLDLY  TEACHING       321 

Christ  won  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  He  was 
the  opposite  of  kings  and  princes  and  of  earthly- 
greatness,  yet  in  a  sense  also  a  king  to  those  who 
could  discern  greatness  truly.  And  as  His  earthly 
existence  was  a  kind  of  paradox,  so  too  the  lessons 
which  He  taught  were  for  the  most  part  in  contra- 
diction to  the  received  opinions  of  men.  Consider 
how  He  said,  '  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath ' ;  or,  '  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive  ' ;  or,  '  Father,  forgive  them  ' ; 
or,  '  Blessed  are  the  poor.'  And  there  are,  as  we  well 
know,  words  of  our  Lord  which  we  hardly  venture 
to  repeat,  because  they  are  so  much  at  variance  with 
the  practice  of  Christians  that  we,  perhaps  weakly, 
fear  lest  they  should  endanger  existing  institutions. 
He  has  been  sometimes  claimed  as  a  socialist :  and 
we  may  frankly  acknowledge  that  He  was  not  so 
far  removed  from  Socialism  as  He  was  from  many 
beliefs  and  opinions  which  have  become  prevalent 
in  the  Christian  world.  It  could  not  be  expected 
that  all  the  lessons  which  He  taught  would  be 
approved  by  His  contemporaries  any  more  than,  if 
He  were  to  come  again  upon  earth,  they  would  be 
approved  by  us  now. 

Yet  this  antagonistic  side  of  the  teaching  of  Christ 
is  not  the  whole  or  the  principal  part  of  it.  The 
greater  message  which  He  came  into  the  world  to 
declare  was  the  message  of  love,  the  love  of  God 
to  man.      He  told  men  that  their  Father  who  was 

Y 


322  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

in  heaven  was  more  ready  to  hear  than  they  were 
to  ask ;  that  He  did  not  need  to  be  told  of  them, 
although  they  needed  to  be  told  of  Him ;  that  the 
least  things  were  the  objects  of  His  care  equally 
with  the  greatest;  that  He  never  cast  out  any  that 
came ;  only  they  must  renounce  their  sins :  they 
could  not  be  the  friends  of  God  and  hate  their 
brethren ;  they  could  not  worship  God  in  spirit  and 
in  truth  when  they  sought  to  be  observed  of  men ; 
they  could  not  see  God  when  their  minds  were 
darkened  with  impurity  and  sin.  But  let  them  once 
break  through  the  hardness  of  heart  which  divided 
them  from  God,  the  veil  of  passion  which  hid  Him 
from  them,  let  them  receive  the  word  of  Christ,  and 
they  too  like  Him  would  become  the  sons  of  God. 
They  must  forgive  if  they  would  be  forgiven ;  they 
must  do  as  they  would  be  done  by ;  they  must  give 
and  it  should  be  given  to  them ;  they  must  be  holy, 
for  God  was  holy.  So  in  everything  He  sought  to 
bring  men  back  to  that  true  image  of  humanity  by 
which  He  Himself  was  to  reconcile  them  with  one 
another  and  with  God.  This  is  the  message  of 
Christ,  not  to  them  only  but  to  all  mankind. 

So  in  a  very  fragmentary  manner  I  have  sought 
to  sketch  a  few  characteristic  features  of  the  life  of 
Christ  as  He  is  depicted  in  the  Gospel.  Is  such 
a  life  imitable  by  us  ?  We  know  of  course  that  the 
externals  of  such  a  life  differ  from  our  modern 
manners    and    customs,   and   that    it   would   not   be 


XVIII.]  THE  IMITATION  OF  CHRIST 


323 


natural  or  perhaps  right  for  us  to  quit  our  daily 
pursuits  and  '  go  about  doing  good.'  We  know- 
also  that  the  life  of  Christ  is  so  far  above  us  that 
we  cannot  ascend  to  it.  We  can  only  follow  humbly 
and  at  a  distance.  Let  us  see  how  far  any  shadow 
or  recollection  of  it  may  exist  among  ourselves.  If 
anywhere,  \ve  must  look  for  it  not  in  extraordinary 
deeds  or  sayings,  but  in  the  daily  occasions  of  life. 
Young  men  too  have  their  ideals  which  do  them 
good  and  raise  their  minds  to  think  of  higher  things, 
but  these  ideals  relate  mostly  to  great  reforms  of  the 
world  or  of  the  Church,  or  to  the  progress  of  educa- 
tion and  science ;  they  seldom  touch  very  nearly 
their  own  life  or  conduct.  But  he  w^ho  would  be 
the  follower  of  Christ  must  come  home  to  himself: 
he  must  put  aw^ay  sin  and  evil ;  he  must  have  a  con- 
science as  the  noonday  clear ;  he  must  think  of  his 
own  mind  as  a  temple,  into  which  no  unclean  thing 
is  permitted  to  enter.  And  w^hen  he  has  set  his  own 
house  in  order,  he  may  find  out  w^ays  of  doing  good 
to  his  fellow- men.  He  will  seek  to  infuse  into  them 
friendliness  and  goodwill ;  he  will  create  a  good 
understanding  among  them,  he  wall  try  to  draw  them 
out  of  themselves  by  sym.pathy  and  affection.  If  he 
would  exercise  a  good  influence  on  society,  he  must 
himself  also  be  free  from  little  faults,  such  as  vanity 
or  egotism,  w^hich  so  easily  beset  us.  He  will  not 
wish  to  be  admired  of  the  w^orld,  but  only  to  do  the 
will  of  God.     The  society  in  w^hich  he  lives  will  in 

Y  2 


324  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xviii. 

some  very  real  but  hardly  perceptible  manner  be 
the  better  for  his  example.  He  who  has  a  standard 
above  that  of  ordinary  men  will  insensibly  raise  them 
to  a  higher  level.  He  will  be  very  careful  of  hurting 
the  feehngs  of  others,  and  will  not  allow  himself  to 
feel  too  deeply  the  slights  and  accidents  which  occur 
in  the  course  of  life.  For  he  must  be  happy  himself 
who  would  make  others  happy.  He  will  know  that 
there  are  times  of  sorrow  and  trouble  when  a  word 
of  kindness  or  advice  has  a  peculiar  value.  He  will 
find  weak  natures  who  need  to  be  encouraged ;  to 
stronger  natures  he  may  sometimes  give  a  hint  which 
will  keep  such  a  one  in  the  right  path,  and  deter- 
mine the  course  of  his  life.  [There  are  confidences 
which  young  men  often  have  with  one  another  about 
matters  in  which  the  word  of  either  may  have  much 
more  weight  than  any  experience  of  the  aged:  no 
doubt  in  such  positions  the  strictest  faithfulness  and 
reticence  are  required  of  us.]  He  will  seek  to  increase 
his  knowledge  of  the  characters  of  men,  that  he  may 
increase  his  power  of  doing  them  good.  He  will  try 
to  soften  the  differences  of  ranks  and  pursuits  and 
opinions,  knowing  that  all  these  things  are  but  for 
a  time :  and  that,  although  they  are  so  important  in 
the  eye  of  man,  in  the  sight  of  God  they  can  hardly 
be  thought  to  exist  at  all.  He  will  make  ties  for 
himself  with  his  poorer  brethren,  lest  'out  of  sight' 
become  '  out  of  mind,'  and  he  should  forget  who 
made  him  to  differ  from  another.     He  will  not  refuse 


XVIII.]  HOW  TO  DO   GOOD  325 

to  deny  himself  for  the  sake  of  them  in  some  matter 
of  pleasure  or  convenience,  remembering  that  Christ 
also  pleased  not  Himself.  He  will  consider  that 
property  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights,  and  that 
to  give  is  more  blessed  than  to  receive.  He  will 
know  above  all  that  the  good  which  he  can  do  for 
others  must  be  measured  by  what  he  is  himself;  and 
that  in  youth  especially  there  is  nothing  so  becoming 
as  modest  stillness  and  humility. 

So  in  a  family,  in  a  school  or  a  college,  notwith- 
standing the  differences  of  time  and  circumstance 
which  divide  us  from  the  first  disciples,  though  here 
in  Oxford  at  so  great  a  distance,  we  too,  according  to 
our  measure,  may  in  a  very  real  manner  follow  the 
example  of  Christ  and  walk  in  His  footsteps. 


XIX 

'HE   SAID,   'IT    IS    FINISHED':     AND   HE   BOWED 
HIS   HEAD   AND    GAVE    UP   THE    GHOST. 

John  xix.  30. 

These  words  have  a  peculiar  interest  and  solem- 
nity to  us  because  they  are  supposed  to  be  the  last 
words  of  Him  whom  we  call  our  Lord  and  Master. 
The  ag-ony  had  ceased,  the  final  hour  had  come, 
although,  a  short  time  before,  Christ,  like  some  of 
those  who  have  been  partakers  of  His  sufferings,  had 
tasted  the  bitterness  of  death,  and  there  was  a  moment 
when  the  cry  had  been  wrung  from  Him,  '  My  God, 
My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ? '  while  at 
another  moment  He  poured  forth  the  prayer,  more 
divine  than  any  earthquake  or  darkness  which  veiled 
the  awful  sight,  '  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do.'  The  narrative  in  St.  John's 
Gospel  from  which  the  text  is  taken  differs  in  several 
points  from  the  narrative  of  the  other  Gospels ;  and 
the  love  of  truth  compels  us  to  admit  that  the  words 
of  Christ,  and  especially  these  last  words,  are  differ- 
ently reported  by  St.  Luke  and  St.  John.     When  we 

1  Preached  at  Balliol,  May  14,  1882. 


THE  FOUR   GOSPELS 


327 


consider  the  confusion  and  uncertainty  of  the  scene, 
we  shall  not  wonder  that  some  spoke  of  our  Lord 
as  expiring-  with  a  cry,  which  is  the  record  of  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  while  others,  as  in  St.  Luke  s 
Gospel,  reported  Him  to  have  said,  '  Father,  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  My  spirit';  and  others  again 
describe  Him  as  pouring  forth  His  last  breath  in  the 
words,  '  It  is  finished,'  which  are  found  in  the  Gospel 
of  St.  John.  Ingenious  persons  have  attempted  to 
harmonize  these  and  similar  discrepancies  in  the 
Gospels.  But  there  is  little  wisdom  in  applying  to 
Scripture  a  mode  of  reconciliation  which  we  should 
not  apply  to  an  ordinary  history.  The  thought  of 
Christ  which  has  filled  the  mind  of  the  world  has 
nothing  to  do  with  those  microscopic  inquiries 
respecting  the  composition  of  the  Gospels  which 
have  so  greatly  exercised  critics  for  more  than  a 
century,  and  had  better  perhaps  be  dropped  for  ever, 
now  that  we  seem  to  know  all  that  can  be  known  on 
the  subject.  All  the  four,  or  rather  the  three,  narra- 
tives of  the  Crucifixion  (for  that  of  St.  Mark  adds 
nothing  of  consequence  to  the  remaining  three)  are 
extremely  simple ;  and  there  is  no  trace  in  any  of 
them  that  the  Evangelists  would  have  regarded  the 
Lord  as  saying  one  thing  with  one  part  of  His  nature 
and  another  with  another ;  or  that  they  felt,  or  would 
have  even  understood,  the  difficulties  which  the  after- 
reflections  of  theologians  have  introduced  into  the 
text  of  Scripture. 


328  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

What  our  Lord  meant,  or  what  the  Evangelists 
meant  by  the  words  of  the  text,  or  rather  by  the  one 
word,  '  It  is  finished,'  we  can  only  conceive  in  part. 
There  is  more  contained  in  them  than  we  can  easily 
elicit  from  them.  Christ  had  always  spoken  of  Him- 
self as  having  a  work  to  do  which  must  be  finished 
before  He  went  hence.  According  to  the  tradition 
which  has  been  preserved  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke 
He  was  thirty  years  of  age  at  the  commencement  of 
His  public  ministry' ;  and  He  continued  to  preach 
and  teach  for  about  three  years,  marked  in  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John  by  the  successive  Jewish  festivals 
(for  the  first  three  Gospels  contain  no  indication  of 
the  length  of  His  ministry^  In  this  short  time  the 
great  lesson  had  been  taught ;  a  new  truth,  a  new 
idea,  a  new  power  had  been  imparted  to  man  which 
the  world  was  never  afterwards  to  lose.  He  had 
opened  the  gate.  He  had  shown  men  the  way — to 
His  Father  and  their  Father,  to  His  God  and  their 
God.  He  had  included  in  His  kingdom  the  other 
sheep  which  are  not  of  this  fold.  He  had  been 
received  and  He  had  been  rejected  of  men  ;  He  had 
appeared  to  them  for  a  moment  to  be  the  Anointed 
One  of  whom  the  prophets  had  spoken,  the  Son  of 
David,  the  King  of  Israel,  and  then  again  He  had 
borne  the  image  of  that  other  Christ,  beloved  of  God 
and  yet  seeming  to  be  forsaken  of  Him.  He  had 
been  deserted  by  the  people  and  then  by  His  own 
disciples,  and  the  most  enthusiastic  of  them  did  not 


XIX.]   SIGNIFICANCE   OF  CHRIST'S  DEATH     329 

venture  to  acknowledge  Him.  The  politic  Sadducee 
would  have  remarked  with  satisfaction  that  '  the 
deceiver  or  troubler  would  be  now  no  more  heard 
of;  'the  sect  was  hardly  a  sect  and  would  never 
revive.'  And  yet  at  that  hour,  when  the  world  was 
closing  upon  Him  in  darkness,  when  the  consumma- 
tion seemed  to  be  further  off  than  ever,  when  His 
own  disciples  had  forsaken  Him  and  fled,  it  might 
be  said  with  truth  of  the  work  which  He  came  into 
the  world  to  accomplish,  '  It  is  finished.' 

Of  the  meaning  of  these  words  to  the  mind  of 
Christ  Himself,  or  of  the  thoughts  which  were  present 
to  Him  in  that  hour,  w^e  hardly  like  to  raise  the 
question.  Still  less  should  we  make  a  near  approach 
to  the  mind  of  Christ  by  assuming  that  He  was 
loaded  with  the  sufferings  of  all  mankind;  or  by 
exaggerating  the  merely  physical  characteristics  of 
the  scene,  for  example,  by  meditating  on  His  wounds, 
in  which  some  of  His  followers  living  in  ruder  ages 
of  the  Christian  Church  have  fancied  that  they  could 
imitate  Him  ;  or  again,  by  drawing  pictures  of  the 
Crucifixion,  which  indeed  has  given  birth  to  many 
noble  works  of  art.  But  into  this  solemn  scene  we 
should  wish  to  enter,  not  with  our  feelings  only  but 
with  our  reason,  regarding  the  event,  not  as  a  symbol 
having  many  mystical  meanings  or  pictorical  effects, 
but  as  an  historical  fact.  For  the  real  point  of  all 
is  that  He  died  for  us^  and  that  we  at  this  day  still 
feel  the  power  of  the  cross  working  in  us.     But  when 


330  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

we  try  to  Image  Him  as  He  was  in  this  world  (not  to 
dwell  on  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  accounts 
of  His  life  which  have  been  preserved  to  us  in  the 
Gospels),  we  feel  that  He  was  a  being  so  different 
from  us,  so  much  above  the  ordinary  motives  and 
impulses  of  men,  that  we  cannot  adequately  interpret 
either  His  words  or  His  acts.  We  cannot  conceive 
Him  in  the  mind's  eye  in  the  same  sense  that  we  can 
conceive  of  Peter  or  Paul  or  John.  What  were  Hisi 
feelings  at  this  hour  ?  Was  He  thinking  of  the  yeard 
which  He  had  spent  under  the  roof  of  His  parents, 
when  '  He  was  subject  to  them,'  as  the  narrative  tells 
us,  in  His  home  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  as  many  have 
had  the  recollection  of  early  life  rush  back  upon  them 
at  the  time  of  death  ?  Or  was  He  thinking  of  her 
through  whose  soul  a  '  sharp  sword  had  passed,'  who 
with  dimmed  eyes  was  watching  at  a  distance  the 
cruel  death  of  her  beloved  son  ?  Or,  perhaps,  of  the 
fickleness  of  mankind  on  which,  now  that,  in  the 
word  of  St.  John,  He  was  lifted  up  from  the  earth.  He 
seemed  to  look  down,  as  being  out  of  the  reach 
either  of  their  enmity  or  favour  ?  Such  might  have 
been  the  natural  feelings  of  an  ordinary  good  or 
great  man  in  the  hour  when  he  was  casting  aside  his 
life  as  a  trifle  which  he  hardly  cared  to  save.  But  to 
Christ  we  shall  do  well  to  attribute  thoughts  higher 
and  deeper  still,  such  thoughts  as  we  find  expressed 
in  the  later  chapters  of  St.  John : — '  Father,  I  have 
finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  Me  to  do ' ;  'I 


XIX.]  CHRISrS  WORK  COMPLETED  IN  DEATH  331 

in  them  and  Thou  in  Me,  that  they  all  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one ' ;  '  And  now  I  am  no  more  in  the 
world,  but  these  are  in  the  world,  and  I  come  to 
Thee';  'Peace  I  leave  with  you.  My  peace  I  give 
unto  you ' ;  '  I  will  send  you  another  comforter,  even 
the  Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father, 
and  He  shall  testify  of  Me.'  And  yet  also,  as  we 
read  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew :  '  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me,  yet  not  My  will 
but  Thine  be  done.'  In  such  a  spirit,  and  with  such 
thoughts  passing  through  His  soul,  Christ  died ;  and 
in  such  a  spirit,  as  far  as  He  is  imitable  by  us,  we 
pray  that  we  may  die,  if  it  should  please  God  to  take 
us  to  Himself,  not  in  peaceful  slumber,  but  amid 
sharp  and  bitter  pains. 

There  have  been  other  great  works  in  the  world 
(although  w^e  do  not  compare  them  with  the  work  of 
Christ)  to  which  the  words  of  the  text  might  be 
properly  applied,  '  It  is  finished.'  A  great  man 
undertakes  some  cause  ;  he  begins  w^ith  the  world 
against  him,  and  ends  with  the  world  on  his  side ; 
he  has  lived  to  see  the  principle  to  which  his  life  was 
devoted  safe  and  beyond  dispute ;  he  has  wrestled 
with  the  surface  currents  and  been  borne  on  the 
deeper  tide  of  human  affairs ;  and,  as  he  passes  out 
of  life,  is  conscious  that  he  has  the  future  with  him. 
Such  works  there  have  been  in  this  and  other  ages 
and  countries  which  individuals  have  been  allowed 
to  complete   in   a   single   lifetime.      The  writing  of 


332  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

a  history  which  remains  to  be  '  an  everlasting  posses- 
sion,' the  discovery  of  a  new  scientific  method,  the 
reformation  of  a  rehofion,  the  consoHdation  of  an 
empire,  the  completion  of  a  beneficent  scheme  of 
policy,  the  creation  of  a  school  of  philosophy,  the 
revelation  of  an  unknown  school  of  nature :  these 
things  have  been  perfected  by  the  almost  superhuman 
power  of  single  men.  A  great  inventor  may  live  to 
see  the  face  of  a  country  changed  by  some  mechanism 
or  contrivance  which  was  slumbering  in  his  own  mind 
thirty  or  forty  years  before.  What  singular  thoughts 
must  arise  up  in  such  men  at  the  close  of  life  ?  And 
we  should  like  to  think  of  them  as  offering  up  their 
work  to  God,  saying,  in  a  sense  that  ordinary  men 
cannot  say,  '  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou 
hast  given  me  to  do.'  And  whether  they  put  the 
thought  into  words  or  not,  or  were  conscious  of  any 
such  feeling  in  looking  back  upon  their  past  years, 
still,  if  their  w^ork  was  disinterested,  if  they  were  not 
living  only  for  gain  and  fame,  we  know  that  they 
were  accepted  of  Him.  For  the  Gospel  does  not 
bid  us  exclude  any  who  seem  in  any  degree  to  have 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  least  of  all  the  great  bene- 
factors of  mankind. 

But  these  examples  rise  above  the  level  of  humanity, 
and  we  want  to  return  to  our  daily  work  and  life. 
Most  of  us  would  like  to  have  done  something  before 
we  grow  old  and  die.  If  there  could  only  be  in  our 
lives  that  of  which  we  could  say, '  It  is  finished ! '    Few 


XIX.]  LIFE  AS  A    WORK 


333 


persons  comparatively  have  any  idea  of  a  work  which 
they  are  called  into  the  world  to  do,  or  of  any  settled 
plan  by  which  their  work  may  be  accomplished. 
Their  life  seems  to  be  drifting  always,  with  hardly 
any  conscious  effort  on  their  parts  to  direct  it,  and 
they  are  carried  by  an  accustomed  current  to  the 
unknown  shore.  They  think  about  Httle  things— 
what  they  shall  eat,  what  they  shall  drink ;  but  to  the 
great  matter  of  all  they  hardly  attend.  Or  they  have 
higher  aspirations  at  times,  but  they  have  no  con- 
tinuity in  their  purposes,  and  their  life  is  a  series  of 
disappointments  to  themselves  and  to  others.  I  pro- 
pose to  urge  upon  you  in  this  sermon  the  duty  of 
regarding  life  as  a  work ;  which  we  may  represent  to 
ourselves,  if  we  like,  under  many  figures  of  speech — 
as  a  web  which  we  weave,  or  a  house  which  we  build, 
or  a  character  which  we  fashion,  or  a  poem  which  we 
write,  or  a  tree  which  we  plant  but  which  also  grows  ; 
and  the  blessedness  of  having  completed  that  work 
before  we  pass  away. 

Some  one  will  speak  to  us,  or  the  thought  may 
arise  in  our  minds,  when  we  are  beginning  to  make 
our  plan,  of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  life. 
That  is  a  text  upon  which  the  preacher  has  often 
enlarged.  There  seems  to  be  no  time  in  which 
anything  considerable  can  be  effected.  We  pass  from 
youth  to  middle  life,  and  from  middle  life  to  old  age, 
before  we  know  where  we  are ;  and  there  is  such 
a  chance  that  we  may  be  cut  off  and  never  finish 


334  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

what  we  are  doing.  Death  is  standing  in  the  way, 
as  old  mythology  fancied,  envious  of  the  fair,  the 
good,  the  young.  There  is  a  strange  mixture  of 
truth  and  error  in  these  sort  of  reflections.  In  one 
sense  man  is  the  sport  of  the  winds  and  the  waves ; 
but  behind  these  are  the  laws  of  nature,  and  behind 
all  is  the  unchanging  will  of  God.  The  faith  in  an 
unchangeable  God  is  the  strength  of  human  nature, 
the  feeling  that  we  are  the  sport  of  chance,  even  if 
relieved  by  the  occasional  favour  or  interference  of 
Providence,  is  really  the  weakness  of  us.  A  state 
of  the  world  in  which  we  could  calculate  upon 
nothing  would  be  a  sort  of  chaos  both  in  nature 
and  in  human  life.  Nor  do  we  feel  either  as  Chris- 
tians or  as  men  that  there  is  anything  very  terrible 
in  death:  that  seems  to  be  a  terror  which,  if  we 
look  at  facts,  is  not  greatly  felt  by  men ;  nor  is  the 
higher  purpose  of  the  Gospel  to  take  away  the  fear 
of  death,  but  to  introduce  us  to  a  higher  life. 

I  would  rather  consider  another  aspect  of  this  sub- 
ject, which  is  quite  as  religious  and  more  practical, 
and  has  not  been  so  often  dwelt  upon  in  sermons, 
I  mean  the  comparative  certainty  of  human  life. 
We  all  know  that  the  probable  duration  of  our  lives 
may  be  easily  calculated,  and  is  the  basis  of  various 
dealings  between  man  and  man.  We  have  not  so 
long  to  live  at  thirty  as  we  have  at  twenty,  or  at 
fifty  as  we  have  at  thirty.  Time  becomes  more 
and   more  valuable   to   us,  and  we   are   afraid   that 


XIX.]    COMPARATIVE   CERTAINTY  OF  LIFE     335 

the  night  may  overtake  us  sooner  than  we  supposed. 
These  may  be  truisms,  but  they  are  truisms  which, 
if  heartily  recognized,  exercise  a  very  great  influence 
on  the  formation  of  men's  characters.  The  common- 
place fact  which  we  all  know,  viz.  that  we  have 
probably  at  any  age  half  as  many  years  to  live  as  we 
fall  short  of  ninety  (so  they  now  tell  us),  may  suggest 
little  or  nothing  to  some  minds.  But  others  may 
be  aroused  by  such  reflections  to  think  that  life 
has  a  definite  period  and  a  definite  work,  and  will 
receive  a  new  impulse  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
good  of  their  fellow -men  and  to  the  cause  of  truth. 
And  as  a  man  gets  on  in  life  the  feeling  that  his 
time  is  short  should  quicken  him  in  the  serv^ice 
of  God. 

Every  one  has  felt  the  satisfaction  of  having  done 
soniething.  To  have  carried  through  some  business 
which  we  were  disposed  to  put  off,  to  have  paid 
a  debt,  to  have  written  a  book,  even  to  have  answered 
a  letter,  may  be  a  considerable  rest  and  pleasure  to 
us.  There  is  a  peace  of  mind  to  a  man  when  he  is 
dying  in  knowing  that  he  has  set  his  house  in  order 
and  left  none  of  the  common  duties  of  life  unfulfilled. 
To  have  contrived  or  executed  anything,  or  to  have 
acquired  any  sort  of  knowledge  thoroughly  and 
exhaustively,  to  have  brought  order  out  of  disorder, 
harmony  out  of  difference,  to  have  seen  an  institution 
grow  under  our  hands,  has  been  a  great  source  of 
happiness  to  many  of  us.      We  like  to   have  done 


336  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

something,  not  to  be  always  about  to  do  something-. 
'Take  me  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my  work'  is 
a  prayer  which  naturally  rises  to  the  lips  at  the 
unexpected  appearance  of  death. 

These  are  a  few  illustrations  or  instances  which 
may  help  us  to  realize  the  thought  with  which  I  com- 
menced, of  a  completed  plan  of  life.  Our  plan  may 
be  a  humble  one — the  bringing  up  of  a  family,  the 
better  management  of  a  business,  '  the  trivial  round, 
the  common  task.'  This  idea  of  a  plan  I  will  now 
endeavour  to  consider  under  two  heads,  showing, 
first,  that  the  plan  must  be  adapted  to  our  characters 
and  circumstances ;  secondly,  that  the  work  must  be 
done  unto  the  Lord  and  not  to  men. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  people  cannot  go  against 
their  own  natures.  They  can  resist  the  evil  of  them, 
but  they  cannot  with  any  advantage  try  to  eradicate 
them.  They  must  supplement  rather  than  extirpate 
their  original  qualities.  This  is  what  we  mean  by 
a  man  feeling  his  own  deficiencies,  which  is  a  ver}^ 
true  and  expressive  mode  of  speaking.  Until  he 
knows  himself  as  he  is  in  his  weakness  and  in  his 
strength,  he  will  be  always  making  mistakes,  stumbling 
at  the  threshold  of  life,  stumbling  on  in  later  life, 
happy  if  at  last  he  can  learn  to  see  himself  as  others 
see  him. 

And  therefore  in  fixing  on  a  plan  of  life  a  man 
must  consider  his  own  character  and  limit  himself 
by  that.     There  are  some  things  which  he  can  do 


XIX.]  LIFE   TO  BE  PLANNED   OUT  337 

easily;  there  are  some  things  which  he  can  do  with 
an  effort ;  there  are  other  things  which  he  flatters 
himself  that  he  can  do,  but  which  he  cannot  do  at 
all.  For  example,  he  may  fancy  that  he  will  be 
a  great  speaker,  when  he  has  nothing  to  say ;  or 
a  great  poet,  when  he  has  no  sense  of  language  or 
of  metre.  The  art  is  to  start  from  what  he  is,  that 
he  may  become  something  more ;  to  be  equal  to  the 
present  while  attempting  things  beyond.  And  he 
must  not  dissipate  himself  by  trying  too  many  things. 
One  work,  or  one  kind  of  work,  is  enough  for  the 
life  of  most  men.  He  is  not  really  good  for  much 
who  is  good  at  everything  but  his  own  occupation 
or  profession. 

I  might  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  efficient 
and  inefficient  life  by  the  case  of  students,  whether  of 
the  younger  or  more  advanced  class.  One  man  has 
no  definite  idea  of  what  he  is  going  to  learn  or  of 
what  he  knows ;  he  acquires  by  chance  and  indis- 
tinctly, and  there  are  great  gaps  in  his  knowledge ; 
with  no  book  or  subject,  or  part  of  a  subject,  can 
he  be  said  to  have  a  sound  or  accurate  acquaintance ; 
he  has  never  grasped  or  realized  anything;  he  has 
no  exact  knowledge  of  facts,  and  he  has  never  dis- 
ciplined his  mind  to  reason  about  them ;  he  is  the 
'  dilettante '  and  not  the  real  student ;  and  there  are 
dilettantes  in  Hfe  as  well  as  in  study,  in  business  as 
well  as  among  books :  whereas  another  man  has  at 
once  presented  to  his  mind  or  immediately  frames 

z 


338  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

an  outline  of  what  he  means  to  learn ;  he  divides 
the  whole  into  parts,  and  makes  every  part  throw 
light  on  every  other  part ;  he  examines  himself  to 
see  whether  he  has  his  facts  really  under  control ;  he 
has  a  hold  on  his  subject,  and  is  able  to  say  of  this 
book  or  of  that  part  of  study  that  he  knows  and 
remembers  and  can  use  his  knowledge.  He  has 
found  principles  under  which  facts  and  ideas  can  be 
arranged ;  he  has  learned  the  proportions  of  things ; 
he  has  seized  the  main  points ;  in  his  enthusiasm  for 
knowledge  he  has  not  lost  sight  of  clearness  and 
accuracy  and  the  power  of  expression. 

And  in  after-life  there  is  the  same  kind  of  differ- 
ence between  the  false  and  the  real  student,  and 
between  the  finished  and  the  unfinished  work.  Two 
men  appear  to  start  with  equal  abilities  and  attain- 
ments, and  one  of  them  does  so  much  in  a  short 
time  and  another  does  so  little  in  a  long  time.  The 
great  promise  of  youth  is  constantly  in  painful  con- 
trast with  the  slender  performance  of  later  years. 
Standing  upon  the  brink  of  the  grave,  there  are 
many  who  must  acknowledge  that  after  all  their  life 
has  been  a  failure.  Many  reasons  might  be  given 
for  these  disappointments :  the  narrowness  of  mind, 
which  is  incapable  of  a  free  or  fair  study  of  any 
department  of  knowledge  ;  the  weakness  of  character, 
which  flourishes  in  a  hothouse,  but  is  killed  in  the 
open  air  and  shrinks  from  the  blasts  of  the  world ; 
the  want  of  a  noble  aim,  which  raises   men   above 


XIX.]  CAUSES   OF  FAILURE  339 

envy  or  jealousy  or  personality  or  party,  upon  which 
so  much  of  the  strength  of  life  seems  to  be  wasted. 
Then,  again,  there  are  mistakes  that  men  make  in 
a  life  of  study  as  in  other  things.  They  go  on 
reading  and  never  writing,  until  their  acquisitions 
become  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  power  of  using 
them.  Or  they  never  see  the  true  point  of  things, 
and  never  form  a  considered  opinion  about  them. 
Or  their  taste  may  be  so  fastidious,  or  their  love 
of  minutiae  so  great,  that  no  considerable  work  can 
ever  be  executed  on  the  scale  or  with  the  perfection 
which  they  propose.  Most  of  us  who  have  arrived 
at  middle  life  have  had  many  dreams  in  the  days  of 
our  youth,  of  the  books  which  we  would  read,  of  the 
languages  Avhich  we  would  learn,  of  the  studies  which 
we  would  pursue.  Such  dreams  are  always  being 
renewed  in  the  present  generation  as  in  the  last ;  but, 
perhaps,  they  are  rarely  fulfilled.  And  if  there  is 
any  one  here  present  who  entertains  these  sort  of 
aspirations,  I  would  not  discourage  him,  but  merely 
remind  him  that  more  valuable  and  more  difficult  of 
attainment  far  than  this  many-sided  cultivation  is  the 
force  of  character  which  carries  any  single  w^ork  to 
an  end. 

But  few  of  us  are  students,  and  there  are  works  of 
the  most  different  kind  which  have  to  be  performed, 
often  in  silence,  by  women  as  well  as  men,  by  the  old 
as  well  as  by  the  young,  by  the  uneducated  as  well 
as  by  the  educated.     There  is  the  care  of  a  school, 

z  2 


340  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

a  parish,  a  college,  of  a  household  and  of  the  serv^ants, 
of  a  house  of  business  and  the  persons  employed,  in 
which  such  great  results  may  be  produced  by  a  firm 
will  and  intelligent  purpose  extending  over  many 
years.  Besides  the  engagements  of  society,  besides 
the  blessings  of  family  life,  let  us  make  some  other 
interest,  if  we  can,  which  may  bind  our  days  together 
with  a  golden  thread,  and  survive  the  changes  which 
the  lapse  of  years  is  always  making  in  every  house. 
To  such  works  we  should  give  not  only  the  chance 
thoughts  or  moments  of  our  lives,  not  only  the  kindly 
feelings  which  naturally  arise  in  the  minds  of  amiable 
persons  towards  those  around  them,  but  we  should 
look  forward  a  little  and  scheme^  if  you  will,  for  the 
good  of  others,  and  not  merely  for  our  own  narrow 
or  selfish  purposes.  So  much  may  be  accomplished, 
as  in  nature,  as  in  art,  even  by  slender  powers,  when 
we  make  time  the  lever  with  which  we  work.  Then 
again  there  may  be  works  of  the  most  private  sort — 
trusts  of  duty  and  affection  which  are  left  to  us,  the 
reconciliation  of  the  divisions  of  a  family,  the  pay- 
ment of  debts,  the  support  of  others,  the  care  of  those 
who  cannot  take  care  of  themselves.  It  brings  a  man 
great  peace  at  the  last  to  have  fulfilled  all  these  trusts, 
not  to  have  the  words  '  too  late '  ringing  in  his  ears. 
There  are  many  lifelong  works  of  this  kind  among 
the  poor.  Many  of  us  must  have  known  of  serv^ants 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  bringing  up 
of  a  family,  the  very^  type  of  good  sense  and  high 


XIX.]  LIFE  AS  A    WORK  FOR   GOD  341 

principle  in  a  limited  sphere,  faithful  in  good  or  evil 
fortune,  the  pillar,  the  example  of  the  house  in  which 
they  lived.  They  too  have  finished  the  work  which 
was  given  them  to  do  ;  they  have  '  gone  home  and 
taken  their  wages.'  And  we  sometimes  wish  that  we 
in  our  sphere  of  life  could  offer  up  to  God  anything 
as  good  as  that  faithful  service. 

Secondly  and  lastly,  we  may  think  of  this  work 
of  whatever  kind  as  the  work  of  God  upon  earth, 
which  is  carried  on  independently  of  us,  and  in 
which  we  are  allowed  to  bear  a  part.  It  wonder- 
fully clears  a  man's  head  and  simplifies  his  life  when 
he  has  learned  to  rest  not  on  himself  but  on  God, 
when  he  sees  his  daily  life  and  his  daily  work  with 
a  kind  of  intensity  in  the  light  of  God's  presence. 
He  is  not  divided  between  this  world  and  another, 
or  trying  to  make  the  best  of  both.  He  has  one 
single  question  which  he  puts  to  himself,  one  aim 
which  he  is  seeking  to  fulfd — the  will  of  God.  He 
wants  to  know  what  is  true  or  right  in  the  sight  of 
God.  He  does  not  care  about  the  compliments  of 
friends  or  the  applause  of  the  world,  the  breath 
of  popular  air  or  favour.  He  desires  to  work,  not 
for  the  sake  of  any  of  these  things,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  work  only.  He  wants  to  be  rid  of  self  in 
all  its  many  deceitful,  ever-recurring  forms,  that  he 
may  be  united  to  God  and  the  truth. 

This  is  the  ideal  which  the  Apostle  holds  before 
us  when  he  speaks  of  '  offering  up  his  work  to  God,' 

Z3 


342  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

of  '  presenting  the  body  a  living  sacrifice,'  of '  dying 
that  we  may  Hve,'  and  in  many  similar  forms  of 
expression.  This  is  the  life  of  Christ,  which  we 
would  imitate  if  we  could,  and  do  seek  partially  to 
imitate,  as  far  as  our  wayward  fancies  can  be  detained 
by  the  image  of  a  divine  love.  Like  Christ  we  have 
a  work  to  do,  which  we  cannot  transfer  to  Him,  but 
in  which  the  thought  of  Him,  the  great  example 
of  mankind,  may  be  always  present  with  us.  The 
power  of  that  example  has  not  passed  from  the 
earth.  And,  perhaps,  that  very  want  of  confidence 
in  the  letter  of  Scripture  of  which  I  was  speaking 
at  the  beginning  of  this  sermon,  to  which  criticism 
and  comparison  of  documents  have  given  rise,  and 
which  by  some  persons  is  regarded  as  the  destruction 
of  the  Christian  faith,  may  be  really  the  means  by 
which  we  attain  to  a  higher  comprehension  of  the 
whole,  passing  from  words  to  things,  from  the  say- 
ings of  Christ  to  the  life  of  Christ,  from  the  life  of 
Christ  while  He  was  upon  earth  to  the  life  of  Christ 
dwelling  in  the  heart  of  men,  from  Christianity  as 
a  sect  to  '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.' 

Some  one  will  perhaps  think  that  this  sort  of 
language  or  any  language  of  Scripture  is  too  mystical 
for  the  daylight  of  the  nineteenth  century.  He  has 
never  had  the  feelings  described,  and  would  be  unreal 
in  pretending  to  have  them.  But  still,  if  he  has  any 
nobility  of  nature,  he  will  not  deny  that  to  be  dis- 
interested is  better  than  to  be  interested,  to  live  above 


XIX.]  ALTRUISM  343 

the  world  is  better  than  to  Hve  in  the  world,  to  rest 
in  the  truth  better  than  to  be  the  servant  of  the 
fancies  and  prejudices  of  men.  He  will  not  deny  that 
his  duty  is  to  make  the  most  of  life  in  the  highest 
sense.  He  may  even  carry  his  idea  of  living  for 
others,  by  some  called  '  altruism,'  to  an  extent  which 
is  hardly  realized  in  the  Christianity  of  the  present 
day.  To  him  we  have  only  to  say  that,  although 
divided  from  him  in  name,  we  desire  to  be  one  with 
him  in  heart,  believing  that  as  there  are  nominal 
Christians  in  the  world  who  say  that  they  are  and 
are  not,  so  there  are  unconscious  Christians  in  the 
world  who  say  that  they  are  not  and  yet  are.  And 
we  pray  for  him  and  for  ourselves  that  '  he  and  we 
may  not  have  lived  in  vain.' 

And  some  one  else  will  perhaps  make  a  reflection 
of  another  kind  on  the  manner  in  which  the  words 
of  the  text  have  been  considered.  He  will  say  that 
there  must  be  some  broken  lives  as  well,  which, 
owing  to  accident  or  illness  or  early  death,  could 
never  be  framed  into  any  perfect  or  consistent  whole. 
There  have  been  men  of  genius  cut  off  before  their 
day,  statesmen  having  the  promise  of  a  great  future 
who  have  been  taken  from  the  midst  of  their  labours, 
poets,  and  others  in  whose  memory  poets  have  sung, 
who,  according  to  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life, 
would  have  been  among  us  still.  And  there  is 
hardly  any  family  in  which  the  simple  yet  touching 
question  is   not  sometimes  asked,  '  What  would  he 


344  COLLEGE  SERMONS  [xix. 

or  she  have  been  if  they  had  been  living  now  ? ' 
Or  in  which  the  last  words  of  some  young  person 
are  not  remembered :  '  Children,  love  one  another ' ; 
or,  '  Forgive  me  for  any  unkindness  which  has 
pained  you.' 

Yes,  we  acknowledge  that  there  are  broken  lives, 
pieces  of  lives  which  have  begun  in  this  world  to 
be  completed,  as  we  believe,  in  another  state  of 
being.  And  some  of  them  have  been  like  frag- 
ments of  ancient  art  which  we  prize  not  for  their 
completeness  but  for  their  quality,  and  because  they 
seem  to  give  us  a  type  of  something  which  we  can 
hardly  see  anywhere  upon  earth.  Of  such  lives  we 
must  judge,  not  by  what  the  person  said  or  wrote 
or  did  in  the  short  span  of  human  existence,  but 
by  what  they  were :  if  they  exercised  some  peculiar 
influence  on  society  and  on  friends,  if  they  had 
some  rare  grace  of  humility,  or  simplicity,  or  resigna- 
tion, or  love  of  truth,  or  self-devotion,  which  was 
not  to  be  met  with  in  others.  God  does  not 
measure  men  s  lives  only  by  the  amount  of  work 
which  is  accomplished  in  them.  He  who  gave  the 
power  to  work  may  also  withhold  the  power.  And 
some  of  these  broken  lives  may  have  a  value  in 
His  sight  which  no  bustle  or  activity  of  ordinary 
goodness  could  have  attained.  There  have  been 
persons  confined  to  a  bed  of  sickness,  blind,  palsied, 
tormented  with  pain  and  want,  who  yet  may  be  said 
to  have  led  an  almost  perfect  life.      Such  persons 


XIX.]      LIVES  BROKEN   YET  COMPLETED         345 

afford  examples  to  us,  not  indeed  of  a  work  carried 
out  to  the  end  (for  their  circumstances  did  not  admit 
of  this),  but  of  a  work,  whether  finished  or  unfinished, 
which  at  any  moment  is  acceptable  to  God.  And 
we  desire  to  learn  of  them,  and  to  have  an  end 
like  theirs  when  the  work  of  active  life  is  over 
and  we  sit  patiently  waiting  for  the  will  of  God. 


347 


The  Master's  Message  to  the  College  lx  his 
Illness,  Sunday,  October  i8th,  1891. 

The  Master  of  the  College,  being  unable^  through 
illness,  to  preach  at  the  commencement  of  Term,  the 
following  Address,  taken  down  from  his  dictation, 
was  read  by  his  desire  at  the  After 710 on  Service. 

My  dear  Friends, 

As  it  is  likely  that  I  may  not  be  able  to  speak 
to  you  at  the  beginning-  of  Term,  I  wish  to  say  a  few 
words  which  may  be  read  to  you. 

I  have  done  little  for  you  in  comparison  with  what 
I  could  have  wished,  and  I  have  many  and  serious 
faults.  My  faults  I  must  lay  before  God — to  you 
I  have  only  a  few  plain  truths  to  tell,  perhaps  for 
the  last  time,  who  can  say  ?  and  from  the  heart. 

It  has  always  grieved  me  to  see  how  many  lives 
have  been  wasted  at  Oxford,  and  how  much  more 
might  have  been  accomplished  by  us  all.  The  waste 
is  caused  by  want  of  energy  and  industr}^,  and  by 
weakness  of  character,  and  by  ignorance  of  the  world. 
Most  of  us  have  been  wanting  in  the  clear  desire  and 
wish  to  serv^e  God  and  our  fellow-men.  At  the 
critical  times  of  life  we  have  not  done  justice  to 
ourselves.  We  have  not  tried  enough  to  see  our- 
selves as  we  are,  or  to  know  the  world  as  it  truly  is. 
We  have  drifted  with  Society,  instead  of  forming 
independent  principles  of  our  own.  W^e  have  thought 
too  much  of  ourselves,  and  of  what  is  being  said 
about  us.  We  have  cared  more  for  the  opinion  of 
others  than  for  the  truth.     We  have  not  loved  others 


348 

In  all  classes  of  society  as  Thou,  O  Lord,  hast  loved 
us.  We  have  not  thanked  Thee  sufficiently  for  the 
treasures  of  knowledge,  and  for  the  opportunities  of 
doing  good  which  Thou  hast  given  us  in  this  latter 
day.  We  have  worried  ourselves  too  much  about 
the  religious  gossip  of  the  age,  and  have  not  con- 
sidered enough  the  fixed  forms  of  truth.  We  have 
been  indolent,  and  have  made  many  excuses  for 
falling  short  in  Thy  work. 

And  now,  O  Lord,  in  these  difficult  times,  when 
there  is  a  seeming  opposition  of  knowledge  and 
faith,  and  an  accumulation  of  facts  beyond  the  power 
of  the  human  mind  to  conceive ;  and  good  men  of  all 
religions,  more  and  more,  meet  in  Thee ;  and  the 
strife  between  classes  in  society,  and  between  good 
and  evil  In  our  own  souls,  is  not  less  than  of  old ;  and 
the  love  of  pleasure  and  the  desires  of  the  flesh  are 
always  coming  in  between  us  and  Thee ;  and  we 
cannot  rise  above  these  things  to  see  the  light  of 
Heaven,  but  are  tossed  upon  a  sea  of  troubles  ;  we 
pray  Thee  be  our  guide,  and  strength,  and  light, 
that,  looking  up  to  Thee  always,  we  may  behold  the 
rock  on  which  we  stand,  and  be  confident  in  the 
word  which  Thou  hast  spoken. 

My  dear  friends,  I  say  these  few  words  to  you,  not 
as  one  who  is  without  hope  of  recovery,  but  as  one 
who,  wishing  for  your  good  at  all  times,  ventures  to 
speak  to  you  In  different  moods,  when  circumstances 
become  changed,  either  with  you  or  with  him. 

October  Zth,  1S91. 


Date  Due 

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